


Can't Go Home Again

by Mable



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Friendship, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, More - Freeform, Romance, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-21 10:52:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 75
Words: 414,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14283342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mable/pseuds/Mable
Summary: Mike inherits his former boss' home after his death. Though he may have inherited a bit more than he expected once he actually goes inside. Now Mike is stuck in a situation he never expected, trying to keep himself together while figuring out what really happened at the Pizzeria, and what happened to the animatronic he is now stuck with.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Mable: I decided to bring this over to A3 from Fanfiction. So, to any new readers, welcome! To anyone from Fanfiction, I'm the same Mable from there, so this wasn't stolen. I will not be including the Author's Notes from Fanfiction, for it would be rather difficult to transcribe each one. Without further ado, please Enjoy!

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

" _Owner of Fazbear restaurant dies of heart attack."_

Mike could still remember the column that was released in the paper only a couple of weeks previously. Nobody had called and told him before that time, maybe they just didn't know they needed to call him. Technically he wasn't related to Fredrick, didn't even work under him anymore, but they had never become strangers. It had just seemed so sudden to open the paper and see the words printed there. It was a few days after that when Mike got the call that he was needed. He hadn't even hesitated before he threw himself back into the mix.

It had been a big part of his life, working at the Fazbear establishment. He was there, he was fired, he was rehired, and he would on and off be a part of it. Mike hadn't worked at the pizzeria for a while before all of this happened, but it still stood out to him. It was still a part of who he was and he wasn't sure why that was. It wouldn't let him go. Apparently Fredrick wasn't ready to let him go either as his will left him with this new task. Not once had he ever mentioned considering putting any employee in his will, especially not Mike.

Fredrick didn't have any living relatives; his wife died during childbirth, his children died over the years, and he then lived mostly to himself. As such he had listed various employees of his as receivers of his estate, but only two of them were currently alive. The other inheritor was a guy named Sam who worked during the day as a technician. Sam and Mike were relatively friendly, though didn't talk very frequently outside of work setting. Sam had inherited Fred's car, the company van, and whatever was left in the old warehouse. The actual Pizzeria was planned for demolition.

Mike, who Fredrick was especially fond of, had gotten his home and whatever was inside. The older man had once mentioned that Mike was like his son in a joking manner, but never did he expect that he would actually be left such intimate property and belongings. From what Mike knew nobody had been in the house yet. The man had gone to the hospital with chest pains and died shortly after of a heart attack; he wasn't very old but had been battling with a variety of heart related maladies, so the sudden death was unexpected but not surprising.

There was no foul play or mysterious circumstances, Fredrick hadn't been in his house when he had the heart attack, and nothing was needed out of the house immediately so nobody had gone inside yet. The will was specific as well; there was nothing needing dividing and everything in the house was left to Mike alone. Mike himself didn't understand how this could happen or how there was absolutely nobody coming forward to argue with the will. He still went along with it.

This was why he was currently sitting in the driveway staring at the door and stalling as long as he could. Mike didn't really want to go inside of the building, didn't really want to see what was inside, but he had to. With a soft sigh he opened the car door and stood. It was early morning and most of the nearby houses were empty as their owners went to work or school. The entire street was silent as Mike approached the front door with the keys in his hand, finding the appropriate one and slipping it in the lock. He unlocked the door and stepped inside.

The first room was a living room. All of the lights were off, but the electricity seemed to still be on as the TV was sitting on. It was a small, standard living room with a TV, a couch, a connecting kitchen nearby, and a set of video tape and book shelves against the back wall. Mike shut the front door behind him and wandered in. He felt a little uneasy and decided not to turn on the lights. Instead he crossed to the TV; it was on a blue 'VCR' screen and underneath the TV there was a VCR player. A tape was sticking out of it and Mike pulled it out to bring closer to the TV's glow.

It was labelled 'Fredbear Cartoon'. From what Mike knew there had been a Fredbear cartoon that ran for a short while, but he had never seen it. He set the video in the VCR and set it to rewind. While it did so he stood and crossed into the kitchen next. It had less natural light than the living room, even though the curtains were drawn in the living room, so he turned on the light. It flickered to life and revealed a small kitchen set with the usual appliances and a small table in the corner. He casually strode over to check the fridge and glanced inside.

"None of this stuff can still be good…" The milk was questionable and some of the leftovers squeezed into plastic tubs didn't seem to still be edible. Though he did notice what looked like a relatively new flat of pink iced cupcakes on the bottom shelf. He crouched down further and studied them; these looked only about a week old at most, definitely not a month old. White cake underneath and topped with sprinkles, just a random flat of cupcakes. Mike then shrugged and took one, wondering if someone actually had been in there.

The cupcake did taste a little stale and left Mike second guessing their age, but wasn't bothered enough to stop eating it as he continued to check the kitchen. In the pantry he found at least seven or eight more packages of cake mix and another tub of icing. He chuckled a little at the thought of Fredrick having a secret sweet tooth. Fredrick has once refused sheet cake on his birthday, back when they were still working together, claiming he didn't like cake. It looked like that had been a bit of a fib, probably to keep his 'stern boss' front.

On the table was a vase with a few shriveled flowers in it and an empty, frozen pizza box. With the kitchen basically scanned, Mike casually left the room. It hadn't occurred to him before that maybe he could learn things about Fredrick that he didn't know. He assumed he'd go through his stuff, but not actually learn his secrets. Part of it made him feel better, made him feel closer to him, and he crossed back through the living room and to the hallway. He flicked on the hallway light only to have it not respond. He flicked the switch a few more times before deeming it dead.

Not that it mattered. Even though all of the windows were blocked with blinds and curtains enough light made it through that he could see well enough. Just the same, it wasn't like Mike was scared of anything anymore. He had become somewhat numb after working at the Pizzeria on and off for so long. He opened the first door in the hallway and found a small bathroom, looking around and then leaving. The next room, however, was very peculiar. It looked like a child's bedroom with a small bed, a baby blue color scheme, and what looked to be a toy box.

Or Mike thought it was a toy box. It was shaped like an oversized birthday present and was pressed against the back wall. Mike crossed closer and fiddled with the opening flap. The room's light filtered into the box and revealed… Toys. Just as Mike expected, the box was filled about halfway with plush toys that resembled the Freddy Fazbear and the other characters. There were even a few that looked like differently styled Freddys and Bonnies. It was an interesting find, but a confusing one. From what Mike knew his children were deceased.

Mike then wondered if he just kept the room together because he lost his child. It made him suddenly lose his appetite. In fact, it practically drove him out of the room, and he turned on his heel to leave only to slowly stop as he noticed something propped on the bed. It had to be the nastiest, dirtiest, rattiest looking Freddy plush he had ever seen. It didn't even look like it had been a child's plaything, it looked like it had been a chew toy to some sort of mongrel. It gave him flashbacks of the slumped Golden Freddy that he occasionally saw on the job.

With a shiver he looked to a nearby shelf where a few books and a few blankets were lined. He set his cupcake down beside a music box sitting on the top and went for one of the small blankets, then boldly tossed it over the dirty bear. "If only this would've worked with the real thing," he murmured to himself and continued out of the room. He then moved to the last three rooms. The first of which looked like a teenager's room. By now Mike wasn't feeling comfortable in the children's rooms and just shut the door again.

There was another room that was stylized as though for a girl. There was a good deal of dust on the furniture and the light also didn't work. Unlike the hall, this bedroom no longer had a bulb screwed in for whatever reason. Mike shrugged it off and went to shut the door. Though as he shut the door he suddenly started to hear a noise. He hesitated and checked his phone, at first knowing it wasn't his phone and yet thinking it was a cellphone noise. It sounded like a soft chiming. He leaned into the child's bedroom again, but noted that it was coming through the wall.

That led to the last room in the house. As he opened the door the noise got louder and he stared in at the master bedroom. There was only one small window and the room seemed to be just a master bedroom. From how used the room seemed to be, he assumed that it was Fredrick's bedroom. The chiming noise was like some sort of rendition of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' and was coming from the nearby shutter closet. Mike stared at it with furrowed brows, "What is that? A cellphone?" He continued towards the closet slowly, reaching out and resting his hands on the knobs.

"What am I doing? There's going to be something in here," he remarked to himself, but then promptly shrugged it off. Again, Mike wasn't too paranoid, and the sound didn't exactly sound threatening. He assumed he just hadn't heard it until he opened the room beside this. Mike got it over with and opened the closet abruptly. Everything seemed to happen in only a split second and yet there somehow was a period long enough that Mike could mentally regret opening the closet. All he saw was a dark figure and a bright face of white before it slammed into him.

Mike was knocked off balance and fell onto his back on the carpeted floor. It fell directly atop him and wrapped its fingers tightly around his neck. He coughed at the sudden inability to breathe while its weight rested on his chest. He grabbed onto its wrists and stared upwards at it. It was lanky, a black and white figure of fabric, with a white face of porcelain. There was a wide smile seemingly stuck on its face while the chiming of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' seemed to imminent from his chest. It was terrifying and it was obviously some sort of animatronic.

Thankfully it wasn't necessarily strong without the surprise attack. Mike rolled onto his side and managed to throw it off, it hitting the foot of the bed as he leapt to his feet and dashed out. As he thundered down the hall it followed right behind him. He could hear the chime catch to him as he narrowly leapt out the front door. He got to his car before he realized the immediate danger he put the entire street in and turned back, knowing he would have to shut the door, lock it in, somehow contain it. Yet to his surprise, it didn't follow him out.

Mike carefully approached the door again and looked inside. It was still there standing in the living room, staring him down, but it refused to follow him out the door. With the moment of respite he had, Mike reached into his pocket and pulled out his key ring and the small flashlight that hung on it. He clicked it on and pointed it at the being. It didn't move in the light, but it allowed Mike to get a better look. It looked tall at first but on s second glance he realized its tapered legs were a few inches above the carpet.

It also looked very mime-like, or perhaps like some sort of doll or clown. Shockingly enough, it was one of the most unsettling looking animatronics Mike had faced, and this counted the slumped figure nicknamed 'Golden Freddy'. He could remember Golden Freddy ever tackling him or chasing him down the hallway. He shut the door and hurriedly dialed a number into his phone.

There were a few rings and eventually a voice spoke, "This is Sam Fritz."

"Sam, you're not going to believe this! The Boss-!"

"Sorry, I'm away from the phone. Leave a message." Mike tensed with a groan and waited for the beep before speaking, "Sam, call me back when you get this. The Boss has a mime living in his house and it just attacked me. I think it's some sort of animatronic. Get back to me, this is important."

He ended the phone call and looked to the door again. He knew that he couldn't just leave; he had to somehow get inside and properly contain it, but with it watching the front door he knew this wasn't safe. " _It won't come out… Maybe I can distract it and get in through the back."_

Of course there were plenty of other thoughts. Such as many questions to why this thing was even in the house in the first place. They went ignored as Mike opened the door once more, pushing it open and watching as the living room was revealed. It still stood in the same position, staring him down, and Mike felt a little sweat start to form on his brow. Slowly he crouched down and set the flashlight on the floor, angled towards the thing, then stepped out of view. Animatronics weren't entirely smart and he hoped this one wasn't either. He kept low and circled the house.

It was actually the master bedroom that had an unlocked window. Mike had to struggle to climb into it, being that it was small and high, and then tried to accomplish getting down without making a noise. He started to cross the bedroom quietly, peering out into what part of the hall he could see. It seemed to still be in the living. At that moment music began to emit from somewhere nearby, the chime of the Toreador March. Mike only had a second of alarm before he realized that it was coming from his pocket. Throwing quietness to the wind he slammed and locked the door.

He then rushed to answer his phone, "Hello, hello?!"

There was a familiar voice on the end. "Mike, it's me. I just got your message. Where are you?"

Mike sputtered and blurted out, "Where do you  _think_ I am? I'm still at the boss'! I'm locked back in his bedroom!"

Sam could be heard fidgeting with something on the other side of the line, "Tell me what the thing looked like. Is it a black and white sock monkey looking thing?"

Mike furrowed his brows, "Sock monkey?... It's black and white. But if you want I can ask him, he's probably right outside the door."

Sam ignored his sarcasm. "See, I was just wondering because I was out here checking the warehouse and I noticed one of the toy animatronics is gone. You know that set that was destroyed? Well, some of their parts are still here. One's completely missing and it just happens to be that Marionette Puppet thing that used to run the prize hall. It had this big creepy smile, sound familiar?"

The former security guard moved away from the door and sat on the bed, "That's it. I tried to corner it or something… I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Any advice?"

"Actually, I do have some. That thing used to be controlled by this music box. It used to actually be in a box and when the music box was wound it would stay inside." Sam continued to explain, but Mike slowly found himself losing focus as realization set in fully. That room he had passed, the bedroom, had both of those items in it. The Puppet had been living in here, possibly with Fredrick's full consent. "Can you find a music box in there?"

Mike snapped to focus, "I know where it is. I spotted the music box in the other room… Maybe I can make a run for it."

"Yeah, that's not a good idea. I don't know much about it, but I think the thing's fast. I mean, I never heard of anyone seeing it on security cameras, but I doubt every guard remembered to wind the music box."

Either way, Mike stood, "I'm getting off the phone now. If you don't hear from me by tomorrow… Just assume I died in a dark hallway, strangled by a sock monkey." He then ended the call and slipped the phone into his pocket. Taking a deep breath, he readied himself and slowly cracked the door. Yet the Puppet was not outside the door like he expected.

" _Did it not hear me?"_ He wondered as he stared into the hall. He then started down towards the bedroom, unable to see into the living room as he was keeping close to the wall.

He ducked into the bedroom and, lo and behold, there stood, or hovered, the Puppet on the other side of the room. Mike froze for a second and then dove for the shelves. It sprung on him, but as he was turned it flopped onto his back and clung to him, unable to get a proper hold. He grabbed for the music box on shelf as one arm slipped around his neck, beginning to choke him.

It had heard him and it had known. This made Mike only more determined to fight back. He tried to pry the arm off with one hand and grabbed the box with the other. He tugged the box in against his chest and struggled to wind it. The Puppet changed tactics, now going for directly the box and nothing box. The 'Pop Goes the Weasel' that had played from it earlier now broken down into a series of shrill chiming as it frantically grappled with him. Finally, he wound it three times and the music box began to emit a soothing melody. It's not long enough, he knew it, but he still tried.

It took about ten seconds before the Puppet's grip suddenly weakened. The chiming died down as well. Then it eventually fell over to the floor. Mike didn't even wait to see and stood, stumbling towards the door, the music box winding down and silencing. By time Mike was slamming the door it had roused again, still on its knees but now looking to him. It looked angry, if it could even look angry while smiling. He locked the door from outside and then wound the music box again. The entire time he did he could hear the Puppet banging on the door.

Once the music started to play again the Puppet's noises died. The house turned quiet except for the music box, and Mike exhaled in relief. "It's over…" He shook his head to shake it off. " _I'll call Sam from the car. He can come over here and we'll somehow get it back in the box and take it over to the warehouse. Easier said than done, way easier than that was."_ He turned and headed for the front door, finally deciding to reach for the light switch. His hand paused in mid-air as his eyes landed on something he hadn't noticed before beside the door.

Or something he had noticed coming out of the kitchen but hadn't really paid attention to. This is partially because the one thing that stands out wouldn't have stood out then. Hanging on the wall above the light switch was a picture of Fredrick and two children. Fredrick was younger in the picture and was posed smiling as his children stood before him. The older boy had his own smile of confidence and looked quite a bit like Fredrick. The younger boy had a smaller smile and looked relatively unremarkable. It was something else that caught his attention, the bear the little boy held.

It wasn't just any bear. It was the nasty Golden Freddy plush that Mike had seen in the other room. Though the one in the picture looked much cleaner and newer. There was no doubt to Mike that it was the exact same plush toy that he saw earlier. A cold ball settled inside him as he gawked at the picture. It was all laid out; his boss, his family, and the bear. The same bear that was sitting in the room with the Puppet. With the animatronic that had just attacked him. Like the other animatronics that attacked him, that were possibly once children.

Everything seemed to click and it made Mike feel ill.  _"This could be a mistake. That doesn't mean anything. He could've adopted the thing to replace the kid, even with it being so creepy."_ It didn't seem to make it better though. Mike blamed his softness for Freddy and the gang for this frustration. Or maybe it was his own history coming to haunt him.

Mike had lost his parents in both a physical and metaphorical sense at a young age and for years afterwards he had been struggling on his own trying to make a living. The night shift job had never paid well, but somehow it managed to help keep him afloat. It empowered him being one of the only ones who survived even a week, not to mention actually returning to work again. He was even one of the only night guards who put together the idea of the deceased children being connected to the crazed animatronics.

He was the only one close enough that the boss himself had given him such a gift. All of these intimate details; Mike wondered if Fredrick knew he was going to find them. Fredrick had been good to him, Freddy's in a whole had given him a new lease in life, and so he owed them this.

He carefully shut the front door and flickered on the living room light. It didn't really help illuminate the place, but it did manage to somewhat steady him for what was coming. He then wandered back down the hall and to the bedroom door. The music box was still playing as he sat down in front of it. For a moment he lifted it and looked it over. He recognized the song from an old clock toy that he had as a child. It was certainly soothing, even as he purposely wound it down. Probably more soothing to children than having Freddy flash music through his eyes.

The music slowed to a stop and the house was silent again. Mike waited for about thirty seconds, suspecting that was all that it needed, and then spoke.

"Look, I don't know if you care or if you even realize it, but that guy who lives here. Fredrick, the man who I guess is taking care of you… He's not coming back." Mike still didn't even know if it could hear him, but he suspected it heard him on the phone earlier. He was venturing into dangerous territory by just speaking, he knew this. "…He died a couple of weeks ago."

He fiddled with the music box in his hands. "I think they said it was a heart attack. He was having chest pains and all that, but…But they weren't able to stop it. When you get older you always get the risk of dying, but… It was sudden. It was really sudden." He decided not to even mention the fate of the Pizzeria. "I'm here because he… He wanted me to be here." He changed his original planned reveal of the will; he didn't want to even imagine that now this house was his. "I don't even know if you know what I'm saying or if you even care, but you deserve to know that he didn't just…"

Mike trailed off at this point. Grief was trying to nag at him; he had kept cool for this long and now he felt it creeping in on him. He managed to again push it back again and drop his head into his hand. He inhaled, he exhaled, he tried to think, but his mind was blank. He was only dragged out of his brief slump by a strange noise from the other side of the door. From his current position it sounded like a shuffling and unease passed his mind. " _Please tell me there's not a vent or something in there…"_ He leaned a little closer to the door to try and hear the extremely faint sounds.

It was clearly crying. Soft, barely audible, but still crying. For a second it even almost sounded human.

Mike sort of assumed that there wouldn't be a reaction and tensed against the door. This is when he needed to get up and leave, give it some time to calm down, go get Sam, and then take it from there. Maybe it would even be best to just wind the music box and put the thing back to sleep. Unfortunately, he couldn't just walk away. It was a problem he had for years and why he kept returning to the Pizzeria, he couldn't detach himself and he couldn't let go.

He slowly stood to his feet, his pulse rising as he brought out the keys yet again. He stopped on the one he had used to lock the door and slid it back into the lock. This was probably the worst decision of his life. He knew it, but it didn't stop him from opening the door and stepping inside.

There was no going back from this.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Two_

Mike slid into the bedroom and didn't take a step away from the door. When he wasn't immediately attacked he closed the door behind him, leaning on it cautiously as he scanned the room. The Puppet was kneeling beside the bed, clutching onto something in its arms and trembling. The weeping had gotten a little quieter since Mike entered the room, but it didn't seem on purpose as the animatronic didn't really look like it acknowledged that he was there. Either that or it simply didn't care that he was there. Mike was not ready to throw caution to the wind by accepting either possibility.

He carefully stepped closer and tried to study its face, though now with it hunched over he could no longer see it well enough. A purple liquid was present dripping onto its arms. It almost looked thick enough and bright enough to be paint. Mike stepped over the blanket that had fallen on the floor, recognizing it as the one he tossed on the bed, and paused only to cringe once seeing what it was holding. It was clutching that ratty Freddy; Mike was warier of getting near it than he was of actually getting near the Puppet itself.

It finally tilted its head back just a bit, staring at his lower legs. There didn't seem to be aggression any longer coming off of it and the only noise it made was a slightly more audible choke. Mike responded by finally crouching down on the carpeted floor.

"Hey, umm… You okay?" It was a stupid question but was the only thing he could think of to start with. It tightened its grip on the plush toy only slightly. Regardless of how hard it was to see, Mike took it as a sign that it was listening. He reached out towards its upper arm while keeping his hand low enough that it could full see it.

"I'm sorry. He was a good man… He was the best boss I've ever had," Mike kept the conversation going once he actually touched the black fabric, not wanting to go silent. It was different than the soft felt fabric that made the other animatronics; the only one that Mike had personally touched was Chica but he assumed they were all similar enough. Maybe there was some sort of skeleton inside, but he couldn't really feel it and wasn't going to risk squeezing too hard, least the thing suddenly wrap itself around his neck again.

The touch triggered it to raise its head a bit more. The smile was still there, blankly saccharine and unchanged, with the purple fluid spilling from its eyes being the only difference. He had noticed the purple marks earlier when he was staring at the face in horror and now watched it pass over the same markings. Something about it was so pitiful. This was the thing that had violently attacked him, willingly tried to kill him, and yet he did feel a little bad for it. Whether or not he was related to the child in the picture, he certainly was distraught about Fredrick's passing.

Mike contemplated his next move, " _If it was planning to jump me it can do it wherever I am anyway. Probably whenever I turn my back... Well, I'm already this far involved."_ He tried to move his arm around the Puppet's back, finding himself staring at the Golden Freddy plush and trying his hardest not to touch it. There was no telling where that thing had been; perhaps on the grimy floor of one of the Pizzeria incarnations. His other hand moved forward to touch its other shoulder area. He awkwardly tried to fidget around and find some sort of comforting motion.

The second Mike's hand stopped on the Puppet's back, mostly so Mike could figure out what he was trying to accomplish, the Puppet suddenly dropped forward. It crashed onto his front and went completely limp on impact. Mike was able to catch its dead weight even though his natural instinct was to leap back. It wasn't heavy and was more a lapse of any sort of personal space he was trying to keep.

Mike managed to take it in stride and pulled it up slightly to bring it into a weak embrace. "It's going to be alright. You're not alone in this. We all… I miss him too."

This was probably the worst comfort Mike had ever given. Usually when he was talking to someone after they had a loss he was more composed. Usually he wasn't connected to the picture at all so he was able to use that distance and come with a rational thing to say. This wasn't one of those cases, so he held on and hoped for the best. It began to weep once more. One of the Puppet's hands cinched onto Mike's arm while the other continued to hold fast to the plush bear between them; to his disappointment Mike realized that the toy was indeed touching him.

It buried its face into Mike's shirt, hiding itself and leaving purple stains against him. It didn't actually bother the human. He knew this was the closest thing to closure over Fredrick's passing that he was going to get; sitting in a child's bedroom and holding a sobbing, haunted mime was a comfort. Just realizing that made Mike bitterly admit that he was the pathetic one. At least the Puppet was possibly related to Fredrick; what was his own excuse for getting so worked up? He glanced around the room and wondered how long it had been waiting for Fredrick to come back.

It seemed to start calming down after some time. Its grip stayed firm on Mike but its grip on the Golden Freddy toy loosen. It still hadn't moved away from Mike's shirt and he wondered how awful it would be if the paint dried and the animatronic was actually stuck to him. If it was crying now he could only consider how much louder it would get if he had to rip his shirt off of its face. That is, if it didn't just kill him at that point. His pulse was starting to ease by now and he readjusted his hands on the black fabric. Definitely softer than the coarse felt.

Then the Toreador March broke the silence with its obnoxious chiming. The Puppet flinched in alarm and Mike could just imagine it suddenly going rabid and turning on him. He grappled for his phone and quickly answered if only to silence the noise.  _"_

_The second I'm out of this room I'm putting this thing on vibrate… And getting a better ringtone,"_ he mentally swore to himself then answered. "Hello? Sam?"

He just had a hunch and it was quickly proven correct by the voice. "It's me. I was just seeing if you were okay… And alive. How's everything over there?"

"You could've chose a worse time," Mike shrugged off vocally. "I'll call you back a little later. Where are you?"

Sam seemed confused, "I'm not coming over there if that's what you think. I'm still over here at the warehouse. It's a train wreck in here; there's trash all over the place."

For the moment Mike kept any interest in the warehouse at arm's length. He had enough to worry and wonder about here. "Stay there. I'll get back to you later." They said goodbye and ended the call. With the new information he had he needed Sam to start checking around again.

He knew he needed to figure out what happened to Fredrick's children. Maybe it would lead to more information about the missing children and possible murders. For the moment he was sort of stuck with the Puppet. Mike hoped that eventually it would grow more passive or bored, then would either separate itself or give some sort of sign that he didn't need to be held anymore. Again, he was wary to suddenly disturb it, afraid that it would lash out with aggression. It already had done so twice. He tried to pretend that internal guilt wasn't a factor at all.

So he waited, and waited, and checked his phone for the time, and waited, and finally decided that it was simply not going to move. He held its back so it wouldn't flop on its side when he stood, lightly tapping his fingers on its back to alert it.

"I've got to make a call. Or a few calls if you want to keep the power on." A few seconds dragged by. Before he could speak again, the Puppet started to right itself and moved back into its kneeling position. One arm looped around the Golden Freddy plush and tugged it comfortable in it lap while the other still had ahold of Mike's arm.

Its face was still angled down and it wouldn't look at him. Mike started to stand and only glanced down to the animatronic when its grip impeded his progress on going out the door. The black fingers only then released him. The man didn't feel right walking out, if it wasn't so important he wouldn't be leaving just to make a phone call. Mike had never been fond of talking into a phone. This only grew after the multitude of prerecorded calls he used to get at the Pizzeria. The last call of the Phone Guy's still occasionally haunted him, especially since the body was never found.

"I'll be back. I'm not going anywhere," Mike promised as he headed towards the door. He needed some air anyway and maybe a drink. He glanced back from the door and only now did the Puppet have its head lifted. It stared at the former security guard's back as he was leaving. The only relief that Mike got from this was noticing that the tears had seemed to stop. The only thing that was left was purple on the bear, on himself, but ironically not on the Puppet's arms anymore. He didn't know if it dissolved or just wasn't visible any longer. At least it wasn't still crying.

He stepped out of the room and once in the living room he called Sam back. "It's me again. It's a long story, but I need you to look for any sort of paperwork you can find floating around, alright?"

Sam was a little surprised at the command rushed on him. "Sure, uh, whatever you say. Got any particular requests in mind?" Of course Mike did have a few.

"I need anything you can get on the Puppet… And whatever's in there on Fredrick's kids." The other male was silent and Mike insisted, "It's got some significance. We'll deal with that later." Thankfully, Sam didn't pry.

"I'll get on it. Are you leaving soon?" Sam asked. The question drew an immediate blank for Mike and he had absolutely no idea how to answer.

"I… No. I have to make some calls before they shut off the lights and water, so I'm probably not leaving anytime soon. Just call my cell, I'll be here." With that they hung up shortly afterwards. Mike then headed in the kitchen to see if he could find some numbers to sort out the issues. Unfortunately, most of the drawers were empty of anything useful, and he eventually gave up and decided instead to try and wash some of the purple substance off his shirt.

He turned on the water in the sink, searched around for some sort of paper towel, and then noticed out the corner of his eye that the Puppet had followed him. It was beside the entrance to the hallway in the living room. It now stood at full height, hovering above the floor, looking almost identical to it did when it chased him out the door except for one of its hands clutching onto the Golden Freddy toy. Mike stared back and waited to see if it went to do something. If it was going to suddenly decide to drive him out of the house.

Instead it just stood there and watched. He finally looked away to search for some paper towels of something. When he looked back a few moments later the Puppet was closer. This repeated twice more as he searched the pantry and the upper cabinets. It was halfway across the living room, then at the entrance to the kitchen, then just a few inches closer. Every glimpse Mike had of it was a bit closer. Maybe he trusted it a slight bit more and was sympathetic towards it, but that didn't make the game of 'red light, green light' any less unnerving.

It got to the point when he just decided to face it head on and address it directly. He stood in front of the sink and braced himself before turning back fully, but now it was gone. He scanned the rooms quickly and then shrugged it off well enough, letting down his guard again to kneel down and check under the sink.

"Did everything in this house just vanish? How can there not be…?" He was only speaking as a sort of self-comfort, though cut off when he noticed an old dish rag crumpled up to the side. "Eh, this looks good enough." It wasn't moldy or anything, so it would work.

He glanced over his shoulder; the Puppet was still not sneaking in on him. "I'll just check the pipes while I'm down here," he muttered out and started shining his little flashlight over a pipe that clearly didn't need attention. Anything to just-

" _Looks like it's time for adventure!"_

Mike's head slammed into the sink as he jumped, his hands struggling to get a grip on anything so that he could pull himself out of the trapped space. Pulse racing, he directed his eyes to the living room and saw the source of the sudden voice and music. The TV was on and playing that Fredbear cartoon, it had been Fredbear himself who was actually speaking, and blasting just a little too loud for the former security guard. He groaned in a mix of frustration and relief, rubbing his head lightly and heading into the living room to see what exactly turned the TV on.

He wasn't surprised that it was the Puppet, he wasn't even surprised that the Puppet was kneeling in front of the couch, but he was a little surprised that it was staring at him as he appeared behind the couch. Its head was twisted at an angle that was definitely not possible for anything that actually used its neck to survive. It was staring him down and he stood there unwavering, just not making eye contact. If it had eyes. Instead he watched the cartoon on the TV and had some sort of flash of memory, as though he recognized the characters on the TV from a distant memory.

By time Foxy was on TV, Mike was on the couch, and now was legitimately able to ignore the animatronic in the room. It stopped staring at him after about ten or fifteen more minutes. The episodes were the standard length of thirty minutes with two fifteen minute segments making each episode. Basically the plot was Fredbear and friends going on adventures, so it was pretty standard.

Though Mike did have a rather underwhelming revelation halfway, " _So… Is Golden Freddy just Fredbear and I've been calling him something else? Huh…_ " At some point along the time he decided that he had stagnated too long and considered actually doing something. " _He looks distracted enough where he is. Maybe I can take off for a while…"_

Getting some time away from the house seemed like a good idea. Honestly, Mike though it would be healthy to get home and get a locked door and four walls in between him and the entire situation. Not specifically the Puppet, but everything in general. The death, the house, Fredrick- His thoughts suddenly changed as he noticed something.

" _Why was it hiding back in that closet if it had a box…?"_ Mike started to stand and circled the back of the couch to head down the hall. He knew the second it started staring at his back, he could simply feel it. Yet he stepped into the master bedroom and crossed to the open closet, looking around inside. At first glance there wasn't much there that looked important. There were hanging clothes, some boxes on the floor, an attic entrance on the roof, and then his gray eyes landed on the file cabinet pushed against the back. He pushed the coats hiding it to the side and leaned in.

The Puppet was probably moving in or out of the attic when Mike appeared, he assumed, and this file cabinet was probably just here on coincidence. If it had been protecting the file cabinet, it would've acknowledged him coming back here and reacted. Inside the upper drawer there were many labelled files with tags such as 'taxes' with a date, 'employees', and many more remaining files that didn't seem too important. Mike did check the employee file though and managed to find both something on Sam and a brief blurb about himself, but it only labelled him working for his first week.

" _There's nothing here…"_ Mike felt a little frustration as he closed the drawer and moved to the lower one.  _"This is all just-… Standard paperwork that Fredrick would've had. I think I'm overestimating my chances."_ Then he caught a glimpse of the files in the lower drawer. "… _Oh, this is interesting."_ Each envelope was tagged with an animatronic's name. Some even had abbreviations, such as toy or spring, after their name as though to categorize them. In the back there were at least nine or ten files listing animatronics that Mike had never seen nor heard of.

He took out the one labelled Fredbear and flipped it open, shining the light down upon it. "Fredbear… Date created, date retired…Bear, as though I didn't know that… Discontinued and to be replaced with Freddy Fazbear. Original Fredbear animatronic has been deconstructed for parts. Springlock suit Fredbear is still intact, no longer in use, endoskeleton to be removed in near future…" Mike frowned and closed the file, "But that's not why they stopped Fredbear was it?... Wait." He looked back again, "Springlock suit. If Fredbear's animatronic is gone then is the suit…?"

He checked the files and eventually found the 'Fredbear (Spring)' labelled file and glanced into it. "…So this is Golden Freddy…" There wasn't a picture, but under 'color' the suit was labelled as being gold. "Huh, explains why he was always laying down. Why did they keep this one?" He glanced down at the information following, but couldn't find anything direct. There was a vague hint near the bottom. "Suit being retired due to springlock failure and injury." His brows raised; when did anyone involved in the Pizzeria ever admit to an actual accident happening?

"I'll have to ask Sam about this. Maybe he knows something about these Springlock suits and whatever they actually are." He set it back in the cabinet. "Alright, onto the Puppet," and he began to glance through the file names. Then he faltered after he found a lack of files labelled as either 'Puppet' or 'Marionette'. There wasn't anything even close and he wondered if Fredrick or someone else disposed of it. He glanced over towards the bedroom door and to his surprise caught a blur of black. It had been watching him again and he hadn't even heard it.

It didn't seem aggressive anymore, not since the scene earlier, but seemed to be watching him from a distance now. " _Maybe it's studying me. That wouldn't be too far out of the ordinary; studying me and predicting my behavior. I do the same thing on a daily basis."_  It would make sense considering its behavior and the sudden distance it wanted to keep. It certainly couldn't be afraid of him after what happened before. His neck was still slightly sore; most likely he was going to have bruises by the next day. Yet he had to at least be thankful that it stopped.

" _I'll get in touch with Sam again… Maybe I'll just head over there whenever I get out of here."_ He closed the files, pulled back, and stepped out of the closet. He headed back into the living room to find the Puppet still watching the cartoon. It had been obviously watching him and knew that this was feigning innocence, but he decided not to do anything about it. The next hours, and unbelievably it took hours, involved Mike calling the electricity and water company and making sure that the house wouldn't be losing either.

The phone company wasn't as willing unless Mike could show more physical proof about the death and such. He decided to instead forget about it and leave the phone as it was. It wasn't as though the Puppet was eager to call anybody and his own cell filled his own needs. Then he checked the pipes again, then he watched more TV, then he wandered around, then he tried to call Sam and couldn't get through, and slowly the day was ate away. The Puppet barely moved unless Mike walked out of the room. It seemed to have switched the tape to a different one of the same cartoons.

Mike wasn't getting the feeling that the Puppet was trying to drive him out, or was really concerned with him at all.

Mike stalled until it was dark. He hadn't even realized it as he had become accustomed to just wandering around fiddling with things.  _"Good job. You screwed around all day and are now on night shift duty,"_ he mentally scolded himself. He peered out of the kitchen blinds at his car.  _"I can leave now, right? How long was I supposed to stay?"_ He then glanced towards the living room. Only a little while ago the Puppet had left the living room, turning off the TV while Mike was watching it, and left to the other room where he had been since.

He was pretty convinced that it had spent all day watching him instead of the TV. " _I mean, I know Fredrick's gone, but it went on fine being alone this long. Nowhere did anyone ever tell me to stay with it. If anything, it probably makes it more edgy. I'm intruding and I should take off."_ Mike said this to himself even though he knew he was just trying to convince himself to leave. Yet Mike still couldn't do it. He couldn't just stand, grab his keys, and walk out to the car. Something kept him here and he didn't know what it was. Maybe Fredrick's ghost was haunting him.

There was just something that Mike couldn't stand about going home to an empty apartment. He would be more comfortable, but it wasn't as though he would be able to relax after everything that happened and everything that was currently happening.  _"Maybe I'll go take a shower. Then I can leave when I'm done,"_ his water pressure was nonexistent anyway. It was best to have something good come out of today. He needed something to clear the multiple frustrations and dueling thoughts.

What was possibly the most frustrating was the unanswered questions that he couldn't find the answers to, and now that Sam was away from his phone it looked like he wasn't getting any. All of these bits and pieces were right in front of him and yet he just couldn't tie them together. Just like at the Pizzeria he was stuck, though there it was because of possibly murderous animatronics and being confined to an office. Here it was because of a possibly murderous animatronic and an empty house. It was as though Fredrick even emptied his house of any sort of evidence.

Mike was approaching the bathroom when the Puppet suddenly appeared again out of its bedroom door. It didn't block his path, but it stood before him and that was enough to halt him. It had its head tilted downwards and seemed to be directly staring at the music box it had in its hands. Mike stared at it too, watching as the dark hand wiped some slightly disturbed dust off of the top. It then thrust the box forwards towards the human. Mike recoiled his hands back in a reflex at the sudden movement.

When he didn't immediately take the box, the Puppet lightly shook it to try and draw further attention to it. Finally, he dared to take the music box from its hands and sent a questionable look. It responded by turning and hovering into its room once more. Mike approached cautiously and looked inside to see it move to stand in its box. It stared at him with a vacant smile; it lacked any emotions that Mike could outright feel. No sadness, no anger, just a blank stare on a face stuck in a smile, waiting for him to do something.

Mike knew what it wanted and complied, even with how confused he was towards why it would want it. He wound the box and as he turned the crank he watched as the animatronic lowered itself down into the present box. At first he thought it was watching him still, but as it lowered it didn't adjust its head to stare him down and just continued the look forward. The flaps of the box closed and sealed it away. Mike set the music box down on the shelf and waited to see if the Puppet did anything else. As expected it went passive like before and he silently left to other things, such as a shower.

The purple stains were basically permanent on his shirt. Mike really didn't care and only noticed it when he was getting redressed. He continued to contemplate on it as he sat at the dining room table again.  _"If this classifies as paint then there should be a way to get them out…"_ He shrugged it off and finished off a second cupcake. He tried Sam again to no response.  _"You'd think he'd be screening me… Hell, he probably will after I tell him I read his file."_ He set the phone on the table and crossed over to the couch yet again, turning the TV back on low, putting in a different tape for a movie he recognized.

"… _Maybe I should go wind the box,"_ he mentally noted as he flicked off the lights and reclined on the couch. " _Actually, no, I'll just leave him be. The last thing I want is to get him riled this late…"_ Instead he continued to watch the TV screen, barely able to hear it as he relaxed on the couch. He yawned as he fidgeted on the couch and tried to stave off growing tiredness. He glanced down the hall as he considered locking himself into a bedroom. It was a shame that every bedroom belonged to someone currently dead.

Eventually he just rolled onto his side and tried to focus on the movie…

* * *

Mike awoke to a start on the couch. He blinked, panted lightly, tried to reign in his pulse, and recognized what awoke him with such a start. The closest thing he could compare the noises to was wailing. It partially sounded like an actual voice with some sort of metallic grating added in. It took him a few seconds before he realized that it was the Puppet in the other room. This was beyond the sobbing he experienced earlier; it was practically hysterical. The harsh weeping was enough to rouse Mike awake and he wasn't usually that light of a sleeper.

He ran his fingers through his hair, his hat having fallen off at some point. Ironically enough, it was the hat from his old security guard job that he had simply worn it on a whim. Not that it mattered now. The TV was back on blue screen as the tape had ran out and, because the room was dark, Mike couldn't locate any clocks. He swore there had been a Grandfather clock somewhere around here. " _I'm out for a two minutes… A few minutes… Two hours?"_ He had left his phone on the dining room table as well and wasn't sure whether it was worth checking it.

Instead his focus was on the creature falling to pieces in the other room.  _"Oh geez… Am I supposed to go back in there?"_ He was answered by the door suddenly opening into the hall. The Puppet exited and seemed to quickly hurry back towards the master bedroom. It briefly stopped crying, but once in the bedroom Mike could hear it once again. His concern then shifted when he realized that it may think he was gone. " _If it comes out here and sees me- It's night, what if has a nightly freak out and comes to strangle me?"_ It appeared from down the hall and Mike reflexively closed his eyes to pretend he was asleep. He had been able to hear its movements from the weeping, but suddenly it went completely silent.

"It _sees me,"_ Mike mentally pointed out.  _"…I mean, of course it sees me. I've gone the only light in the house shining on me."_ He begrudgingly seemed to curse the TV as the Puppet slipped closer. Its location was a mystery until he heard something from the back of the couch, like it touching the couch or something. He could just envision it leaning over him. Then it moved from the couch and the room went silent again. Mike dared to open his eyes a crack and noted that it was no longer with him. There was movement at the bedroom door and he shut his eyes again.

A short while passed until Mike was suddenly alerted to something dropped on his legs. He clenched his teeth and fought the urge to open his eyes as something dragged over him. Then like a sudden flash of realization, or a sudden jolt of wailing in the night, he realized that the thing being put on him was a blanket. From the size and texture of the blanket it seemed to be the one that he had previously used to shield himself from the nasty Golden Freddy Plush. It circled him, adjusting the blanket, and then left yet again.

He released the exhale that he was holding in. Then held his breath again as he saw a flash of white and the Puppet returned once again. This time it put something between him and the back of the couch, stuffing the soft body down beside him, then again lingered. It was leaning over him for sure this time, its porcelain face staring at him. By time Mike was starting to get incredibly uncomfortable it had left once more. He couldn't see it down the hall and it didn't shut the bedroom door, and yet it never returned.

Mike was starting to regret staying the night. He passed out before he could dwell on it further.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Three_

Mike woke in the early morning lying face down on the couch. He groaned and drug his head upwards from the couch pillows. " _Ugh, what a night…"_ His mouth was dried out and his entire body felt stiff from its contortion on the couch. He pushed the blanket down and sat upwards on the couch, now noticing the sound of his cell phone ringing. About the second he really noticed it the ringing stopped and he ignored it to lean back on the couch. Immediately he felt a lump behind him, " _That thing Puppet brought in last night…"_ His eyes shot open, " _Wait, no."_

He leaned forward and reached behind him, yanking out the plush item. To his immediate relief he realized it was just a Foxy plush and not the Golden Freddy, or Fredbear, that the animatronic had been toting around. He dropped it beside him as his phone began to ring once more.  _"Good God, whose calling this frantically at… Whatever time it is?"_ Mike shuffled into the dining room and grabbed the phone, recognizing the number as Sam and answering it. "Yeah, hello?" he rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"Mike, where were you?! I went by your apartment last night and you weren't there!" Sam did sound legitimately concerned, but Mike retorted with his own response.

"Where were you? I tried to get in touch with you last night at least twice." By which 'at least' meant 'only'.

Sam gave a nervous chuckle, "Yeah… I got a little caught up with some things."

Mike gave the most unimpressed tone he could muster, "Does Dinah like when you call her a thing?" Sam choked on the phone and gave away his guilt to the other male.

"Never mind. Can you meet me at the warehouse? I've got some things we have to go over. I'll explain it there," Mike almost commanded and Sam agreed.

"I'll be there in about fifteen minutes and I'll unlock the door for you. I'm sort of, well, I don't really want to know what you're going to say…" Sam trailed off.

The former security guard was insistent, "Oh, you really don't." He got a slight smirk and said his goodbye before hanging up the phone. With a quiet exhale he considered his options on what he was going to do before he left. Or, more precisely, what he was going to do about the Puppet.

" _I should check it before I go. It was practically bouncing off the walls last night…"_ He crossed to the couch and stared down at the blanket and plush toy. He lifted the Foxy into his hand and looked it over. It looked like it had come straight off of the Pizzeria shelf unlike the grimy consistency of the Fredbear plush.  _"I need to at least take it back its Foxy."_ He headed down the hall to the bedroom and slipped inside. The box was closed tightly yet again as though what happened in the night simply hadn't happened. Mike wandered over towards the large box and looked down at it.

If there was a mechanism in the box he wasn't seeing it from out here. A small, amused smile passed his lips and he tapped on the side of the box and whistled out the beginning of 'Pop Goes the Weasel'. It would make sense to be some sort of jack-in-the-box mechanism, even though it was lacking a crank. He got an answer at about the time he whistled 'the monkey chased', when the box abruptly popped open without warning. Mike cinched his mouth closed and tried to hold back any noise of surprise.

The Puppet's smile was the same as always, but Mike actually felt something in the way it moved. It was more animated than it had been the day before. Its hands gripped onto the edge of the box and it seemed to slightly tilt its head in a curious motion. Mike didn't feel threatened, regardless of the fact that it just sprung out of a box. In fact, he liked this suddenly friendly behavior. Perhaps it somehow engaged its own 'day mode' setting and was treating him like it would any person who it didn't plan on killing.

Or perhaps it remembered the day before and was returning Mike's affection with a sort of gratitude. Really Mike couldn't tell. So he put on a slight smile and tried to pretend like this wasn't as weird as it was.

"Glad to see the mechanism still works," he joked, smirking lightly, and then handed over the Foxy plush. "Here's Foxy. At first I thought these things were moving around on their own, but I'm guessing it's yours." It would be better if he didn't say he was awake. He didn't know if the animatronic would be able to feel embarrassment, but it might make it uncomfortable to know that he had been pretending to sleep. It certainly wouldn't trust him any longer.

It took the Foxy plush in its hands, staring down at it in delight and holding it carefully. "You've got quite a few of those in there," Mike tried and failed to make small talk.  _"Hey, it's not like I didn't grab a few things on my way out."_ The Puppet suddenly got a new type of interest when the plush toys were mention. It exited the box, which was basically it hovering a little higher and then slipping over the edge of the box, and then set the Foxy plush on the bed. It then started to take more out of the box and started to line them out on the bed, as though showing off.

"That's a lot more than I expected.  _How exactly did it sneak that many out of the Pizzeria?_ So I'm going to take off for a bit, but I'll be back. You just keep setting up." The Puppet turned its head slightly to acknowledge him before it continued working. Mike took this as a sign that it was fine with him going and left the room, then the house, and was soon driving over to the warehouse where Sam waited. He stopped on the way for something to eat and came into the warehouse eating a bagel sandwich.

The warehouse was in a perpetual state of disarray. It had been for many years. Fredrick never had time to arrange everything, or didn't really care how it looked, and never invested into getting it sorted. This left Sam with all of the work, especially now that Mike had his own work to be done. He stepped into the office where Sam was staring at an old newspaper clipping.

"Hey Fritz," Mike remarked as he stood there, slowly chewing his breakfast.

Sam glanced back and raised a brow, "What, we're on a last name basis now?" He was joking, Mike responded right back.

"Apparently not." He took a little bit of joy at the slight confusion on Sam's face. "I saw your file in Fredrick's little file cabinet. When exactly did you  _slightly_ change your name?"

Sam got a quick look of horror and sputtered, "That wasn't- I didn't think that was on the record… But I did change my name a while back."

Mike nodded and came closer, with a slight bit of suspicion in his eyes as he dropped into an office chair. "I'd say more than a while back. I've only ever known you as Sam." Sam coughed into his fist. Mike continued probing, "Any particular reason why you changed it?"

"Well… I mean, yeah. Around the time I was working here there were some disputes. The missing children thing has basically just happened when I started working full time. News crews would occasionally pop in and more than once my name was in a paper for no reason. It was just simpler if I shifted some things around."

Mike quipped a brow, "And Fritz Smith became Sam Fritz?"

Sam exhaled, "Yeah." For a few minutes Sam fidgeted with papers and Mike ate the bagel sandwich while watching him. It was a partially awkward silence, but mostly on Sam's part.

"So I found some interesting stuff…" the technician started before looking to the former security guard. "But we'll get to that later. First I want to know what happened between you and the Puppet."

So Mike quickly recounted a shortened version of what happened with the Puppet, about the picture, the files, and ended with a final comment. "There's some sort of big connection with all of this, but I just can't see it yet."

Sam got a slightly cheeky smile, "You're about to. Take a look at this." He dropped the newspaper article onto the desk and scooted it over. "I don't have the full article, but that's a picture of the missing children, and it gives their names underneath."

Mike looked at the four children, or perhaps teens, then read the name. Then he did a double take and looked back at the children once more. "That one on the right-."

Sam nodded as he opened a drawer in the desk, "Has Freddy's last name? It's not a coincidence. I think it might be his older son."

The article was set back down on the desk. "Definitely. I recognize him from the picture… But he wasn't the kid with the Golden Freddy doll. Anything on him?"

"I can't really find anything else. Freddy wasn't one to dwell on the past, if you know what I mean… I always sort of thought he was in on the disappearances, but that theory's out the window. No way would he hurt his kid; he wasn't that sort of guy."

Mike nodded in agreement, "He wasn't the kind to hurt any kids. This explains how both children just disappeared out of the picture… Was there a third one? There's a third bedroom."

Sam shrugged, "Maybe, but I only got a confirmation of two. Freddy once mentioned he had two boys when I mentioned I had a younger brother."

"What's his name? Or does he have two slightly different names too?"

Sam frowned pointedly, "That's cute."

Mike added in, "I'm actually ashamed of myself. I could've done better than that." 

"So yeah, there's a little here on the Puppet, but it's actually a report written by Jeremy Fitzgerald, one of the past security guards," Fritz continued, trying to ignore the conversation on names.

Mike stared at him blankly, "…Be honest with me, Sam. By 'past security guard', do you mean it's just you with another different name?" He followed with a clear smirk and Sam looked less than impressed with the comment.

"Yeah, it's me, Mike. I wrote the report while I was asleep. Anyway, Jeremy worked as a night guard like you did… I might have met him once. The name sounds a little familiar. He was working at a difficult time- Right after the Pizzeria was closed down for some repairs. He's got a whole thing in here talking about the toys, the old animatronics coming to life, and the Puppet. He, uh, labels it as the 'Marionette' here. He says it comes out when the music box isn't wound, I could've told you that, and that the prerecorded message left for him mentioned it."

"Yeah," Mike listened intently even though the information wasn't exactly new.

"Just in case you didn't know, it was stationed in the prize corner. It used to hand out gifts to children. It may have been able to count and exchange tickets, but I don't remember ever going in there. As unnerving as it was, the children didn't ever seem to have complaints. There's even a stack of old drawings in the back somewhere that has a few of it in it."

While this was mostly unimportant, Mike did find it interesting,  _"It explains where it got all of the plush toys from."_

Sam then turned around in his chair, "Which means that we've got one clue. It's been around long enough that…You know… That guy used to know about it. You know the guy, the recorded message guy."

Mike quipped a brow and straightened in his chair a bit, "You mean Phone Guy?"

Sam nodded, "That's him… I don't think I ever caught his name. He was on the payroll for a long time."

The former security guard blinked at the information, "Huh… Explains where he learned all the tricks of the trade from…"

The other male seemed hopeful, "He was working here around the time of the Bite of 87, so if we could get ahold of him we could get more answers." Though he was answered with a shake of the head, "What?"

A moment passed before Mike quietly offered, "He, uh… He didn't make it. I don't know if they have it in there, but it was the fourth prerecorded message he left me. I think Freddy got him." The technician flopped back in his chair and stared at the file. Mike didn't know if he was upset about the death or the false lead, but he was upset.

"Oh… I was hoping I'd be able to find his number or something and then we could get to the bottom of this whole thing. Other than Fredrick, he was here the longest out of anyone else, unless there are missing records."

As he fell silent again, Mike remembered what he had read about Fredbear, about some sort of Springlock suit. "There's nothing in there about springlocks are there? Like a sort of suit that you wear?"

The technician blinked in confusion, "Uh, no. Never heard anything on a suit. Unless you mean the empty Freddy heads that people used to wear."

"No, I mean some sort of actual suit," Mike finished his sandwich in a quick bite and then went into full explanation. "The original Fredbear was destroyed, so this golden Springlock suit in Fredbear, or Golden Freddy. I was thinking maybe there would be something about the suit there." Sam paused in thought and then shook his head. Mike collapsed back into his chair; all of his leads had dried out.

"…But Phone Guy would know," Sam added in and suddenly stood from his seat. "Come with me, I'll show you." He walked briskly out of the room with his companion behind him.

"Phone Guy's dead. Unless we're going to bring out whatever suit he was stuck in and see if he was angry enough to stick around," Mike cynically remarked and Sam forced a light chuckle.

"No, no. Nothing like that. Not like we could, never found the body- From what I know, I didn't even know he was dead. No, I got something better." The warehouse opened up in the main room. It was lined with a multitude of boxes stuffed with parts, props, tools, and anything else needed to manage the Pizzeria. There were a few remaining animatronics, such as a boy with a Balloon and part of a Freddy, but they were inactive.

Sam led Mike to a cardboard box against the back wall. He opened the flaps and revealed a multitude of tapes. "Phone Guy had a little bit of time on his hands, and outlived a lot of security guards." He started lifting tapes out, labelled with different Pizzeria titles and days on them. "If anyone saw these Springlock suits it would've been him, especially since he's the only one who really stuck around through the years. I… Don't even know where to start…"

Mike lifted a tape labelled 'Fredbear's Family Diner' and looked over it, "Exactly how many times did this place change names?"

"How many disasters happened here?" Sam retorted playfully. "Well, let's see, there was the many disappearances, the constant murders, the Bite of 87 to list a few."

Mike shivered at the thought, "Yeah, Phone Guy mentioned that. Who knew Foxy could do that much damage?"

Almost immediately the technician looked back at him in confusion, "Foxy? No, it was definitely Mangle. That thing swings in upside down."

Mike wasn't entirely convinced, "Foxy's got the sharper teeth. He's a fox, made to be a predator."

Sam argued, "Mangle's basically Foxy, just pink and white."

"…Why would they make Foxy pink?"

The new fact baffled the former security guard while the technician simply ignored it. "So… It'll take me a while to go through these. Want to stick around?"

Mike considered it, but wavered, "I've got to pick up some stuff from my place to take to the house. I need a change of clothes and something more fulfilling than cupcakes."

Sam seemed concerned at this as he watched Mike sort through the tapes, "Wait, you're still planning on staying there? Mike, look, I'm glad you and the Puppet have some sort of mutual living space thing going on, but this is dangerous."

"No more dangerous than working here," Mike pointed out as he looked over a tape that was titled 'proper animatronic cleaning procedure'. "At least I can punt this one off of me if it gets to grabby."

There was a moment of silence before the technician added in, "Yeah… Mike, take a look at your neck."

Mike straightened and faced him, "Sam, Fritz, I'm serious. I can handle this; the Puppet was acting way less temperamental this morning. It could have attacked me last night but didn't, so I'm going to trust it about as far as I can throw it… Which I guess is probably a good enough distance." He handed over the tape, "Here. Maybe he'll start going through the various animatronics and stumble on Golden Freddy."

Sam agreed, "I will. Good luck… And if you could do me a favor, dump some of that old freezer food on the way out."

Mike almost reluctantly did so, salvaging one of the Fazbear brand frozen pizzas that was only a little bit past date. Shortly afterwards Mike left the warehouse. He drove home as planned and packed a few changes of clothes, some of his food, some of his other needed items, and anything else he would need.

His apartment was much smaller than Fredrick's house was, with only one bedroom, a bath, and a conjoined living room and dining room. Mike wasn't specifically looking for anything larger so he never moved. Yet here he was currently stuck in two homes. He liked to think that the arrangement at Fredrick's was a temporary event. That once the Puppet was settled in that he could limit his visits to once a day and not have to stay the night. Sure, it would make uncovering the Pizzeria's secret's harder, but Mike didn't know if it was sane to fully move in with the animatronic.

He took his time to change and gather a few movies for later, then eventually shut everything down and headed over to the house once more. It had been great to actually be out as Mike had been fighting boredom just sitting at Fredrick's. Finally, he drove into the driveway and turned off the car. He grabbed as much of the stuff he could and hoisted it to the front door. He unlocked the door and pushed it in, seeing nobody there. He set the things beside the door and went to retrieve more out of the car. Once it was emptied he entered the house and turned to lock the door.

There was a loud crackling noise that suddenly occurred behind Mike. He hesitated at the door as the noise thickened behind him, reminiscent of some sort of broken radio or grating static mixed with the occasional twang of an out of tune music box. He knew what it was but still looked confused as he turned back. There stood the Puppet, right behind him, closer than he thought it would be, releasing that obnoxious crackling from deep inside of its chest. Its hands were clenched tightly as it stared him down. Mike didn't have to contemplate the smile to know there was anger.

"What's wrong?" he asked. It would make much more sense if it could just tell him. Did it not like him bring stuff in? Was it mad he was back? He had clearly stated he was coming back, so that didn't seem like that could be the problem. The white lights in its eyes, which had certainly not been present earlier, darted down to the items, to the door, and then stared him down. At least now he could see some sort of movement. "I had to get some things from my place. I didn't think you'd care that I brought some things over. Most of this junk is going in the fridge anyway."

It twitched a bit and the noises got just a bit louder. "Okay, umm… I've got frozen food and I really don't know what's going on here so…" Mike trailed off and went to start putting stuff away. This was easier said than done; the Puppet followed him obsessively through the kitchen. Every time he turned to do anything it was standing there, making the static noise. It didn't take too long until it dawned on Mike what possibly could be wrong.  _"Is it upset because I left? It… Would make sense considering Fredrick, but I told him I was leaving. He must have heard me; so did he not understand or…?"_

Mike faced the Puppet again. This wasn't difficult as it was still following him around. "Alright, I think I figured it out. I'm a little slow today, but I eventually got it… You're upset because I left. I wasn't thinking, but yeah, after what happened if-." He halted his words. As though he couldn't get any further once he acknowledged what was different about the Puppet, and something was certainly different. Its face had directly changed in a non-subtle way. It was clearly obvious, clearly visible, clearly angry.

Not only was it glaring but the smile was completely gone, replaced with a scowl, and it actually took Mike off guard. Either the Puppet noticed or was planning on leaving, as it then simply disappeared. It didn't hover out, it just vanished, and Mike stared at the empty space for a few moments. He didn't even know how to react to something like this; it was just so jarring to look at. Mike didn't take too long before returning to putting away the groceries that he brought from his apartment. Occasionally the Puppet would return, appearing in the room silently and watching Mike for a second, then leaving.

It wasn't like Mike had a chance to say anything of an apology. Though on the other hand he was also a little stubborn on doing so. He had clearly said what his plan was, to leave, and in a way he felt like the animatronic was overreacting. He wasn't stupid enough to say it out loud; he considered its glaring and aggressive noises holding back on its part. It was actually his decision to cook the frozen pizza from the Pizzeria that managed to actually stall the Puppet. It emerged once more and then became distracted with the box on the table and of the cartoon bear printed on it.

"I got it from the warehouse," Mike explained, trying to start a one sided conversation. "It says it should still be good, I'm going to try it out." The Puppet took the box off of the table and looked it over. The Fazbear brand pizzas had never sold that well. They were good enough, but they only sold in the Pizzeria itself for customers looking to 'take some of Fazbear's home with them'. It wasn't enough expositor to really make money off of it and yet they still made them, froze them, boxed them, and attempted to sell them up until the end. Mike himself hadn't ever had one.

"You can keep the box if you want. I'm not exactly jumping to throw it away- All the other stuff wasn't salvageable." The Puppet looked interested in it, but also seemed determined not to face Mike. "…Yeah, there were some drawings of you down there too. I'll get them whenever I go back." A little more interest, still not completely ready to look at Mike. "…And I'm sorry," Mike forced it out regardless if he believed he was fully at fault or not. "I should've been more clear that I was going and… You know, I get it. When he left… I guess that means you were here waiting for him for a while."

The Puppet seemed to drop its head just a little and slouch a bit, clutching the box tighter. "But, you know, I wouldn't-…" Mike cut off. It wasn't as though he could say he wouldn't let that happen; that would be like saying it was Fredrick's fault that he died. "I… You know I wouldn't just purposefully leave forever without telling you. We're basically living together now." He tested the last sentence out to see how it reacted. It seemed to slowly straighten and ease its grip, relaxing once more.

It had returned to the vacant smile already, but now it didn't feel quite as vacant, just maybe a little exaggerated. It wasn't angry, Mike let out an exhale of relief. "I'm going to be in here for a little longer. If you want, I brought some tapes back from my place. I thought it would be good to watch something other than Fredbear's never ending quest for self-fulfillment." There was a soft chiming from the Puppet and it shook lightly, as though it was laughing or mocking doing so. It then did as suggested, clutching the pizza box.

Mike decided to casually add in, "You know, I'm glad you're taking this so well. Guess that means you'll be fine when I go back to work on Wednesday." It was almost funny how quickly the static noise returned.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Four_

Mike awoke on the couch as he had the night before. This time it was supposed to be more comfortable; he had actually laid out better bedding on the couch and changed into more appropriate sleepwear. He hadn't stayed awake too late, he slept well enough, but something was terribly wrong and he knew it. As he rolled onto his back he felt something like a pulse in his abdomen, followed by a strange sour feeling. He slid upwards on the couch as the pressure and pain spread further. It reminded him of how he felt after he bruised his abdomen in a motorcycle accident years ago.

Though only if the outside pain somehow managed to migrate underneath the skin and muscle.  _"I knew there was something off about that pizza."_ It had an odd taste, but it was the slightly chalky consistency that had turned him off. He still ate most of the pizza without a hitch. Now he regretted it; it was worse than any hangover he could've possibly felt. Something was definitely wrong with that pizza. Suddenly an overwhelming clench hit his body, a wave of pain, and before he could even rationalize his body's actions he was off the couch and into the bathroom.

When Mike emerged a short while later he was feeling even worse. He leaned against the doorframe and rubbed his damp face. At some point he apparently started to sweat even though he felt clammier than hot.

"I'm dying," he croaked out and looked back towards the living room. He couldn't go back to the couch; he felt too sick to suffer through laying on the couch. This was the first time he considered actually laying down in the master bedroom and, for a moment, almost managed to mentally talk himself out of it. Then the pain started to slowly intensify and he gave in.

He unintentionally banged on the Puppet's room before swinging in on the door in an almost drunken fashion. He was sure that it looked a lot worse than it was. The Puppet was knelt near the foot of the bed doing something half underneath it. The way it suddenly jolted upwards when he came in, completely interested in his presence, made him believe that it had heard him through the wall. He hoped only when he had slammed the door on the way in and not the awfulness that followed.

"You, uh… You don't care about me being in the back bedroom, right?" It slightly tilted its head and seemed almost to shrug a shoulder, maybe. Mike, meanwhile, was only there for a total of seven seconds before turning to leave. "Alright, thanks. I'll be in there." He didn't even wait for a full answer. He just took the Puppet's lack of offense as a good sign and hurried into the bedroom as fast as he possibly could. The bed was still made as he collapsed on top of it and just laid there on the comforter. It was already so much more comforting than the couch and Mike almost felt a little better.

That passed quickly and he turned onto his side, clutching his middle as if it would relieve the mess occurring within him. The Puppet appeared at the doorway shortly later. Mike didn't see him come in and seemed to, instead, 'feel' him coming. Almost like the feeling one would get if they thought they were being watched. Mike had become used to it and the animatronic enough that he let his guard down. It wasn't like he had the strength to raise his guard again.

"I think…" He tried to force out, pausing for a moment before looking back to finish. "That the pizza was a death sentence disguised as a lump of cheese and bread."

He immediately regretted using the word 'death', but the animatronic didn't react to it. Instead the Puppet leaned over him and stared downwards at him. It scanned him, his body, his posture, and seemed to be a bit concerned. As concerned as it could be with a big smile on its face; though it didn't outright ignore the situation either.

"I'm fine, I just… I just need to lay down for a while. I'm not actually dying or anything." That chiming laughter returned from the day before. The Puppet then left and Mike rolled over onto his side again.

" _Death would just have to be the only option,"_ Mike mentally noted in an almost bitter manner.  _"Damn it, Sam… And never mind, Sam told me to throw it out, so it would be my fault. Damn it, Mike."_ He vacantly laid there as his mind seemed to continue talking. It wasn't like he had anything stimulating to do. He felt too ill to actually do anything more than lay there and stare at the blank wall. Fredrick didn't even have much of anything interesting to look at on the walls except for a few pictures. Even they were pretty standard; him with a baby, him with his oldest son, a wedding picture, and a small painting of a ship at sea.

He zoned out staring at it and only returned to reality when the Puppet started trying to slide the Foxy plush under his arm. Mike raised a brow and looked down at the doll now beside him. "Huh, look whose back." The Puppet was delighted at his willingness to take the toy, regardless if he was ill or not. "Thanks. I'll try not to lay on him this time." He humored the animatronic by dragging the plush beside him. However, right afterwards he felt an acidity in his throat and forced himself to sit upwards against the pillows. To his relief it faded away; as bad as he still felt he had managed to get that much under control.

His mouth still tasted like a piece of rotten flesh from inside an animatronic suit. As soon as that thought passed his mind the acid returned. Just the thought of bodies distorted his usually unaffected body in ways he couldn't imagine. It wasn't like he could get the thought out of his head either; just thinking of those rotten bodies, that moldy Pizzeria, the disgusting pizza that had been sitting in the freezer-. A few seconds passed where Mike couldn't figure out whether he needed to sprint back to the bathroom or continue laying there unmoving. Finally, he slid back down into the pillows.

The human closed his eyes and evened out his breathing to get everything under control. It worked too well and he faded out for a short time, rousing later to the feeling of his arm being shook. He half-heartedly glanced down at the black hand on his arm. Then his vision was obscured with an offered pink cupcake. A wave of nausea struck as the sweet smell irritated his already suffering senses. By now he knew the Puppet was unpredictable, so he wouldn't usually shove its hand back as though the cupcake was poison.

"No, not- I can't. I can't eat it." The Puppet looked to the cupcake and to Mike, seemingly confused, but then followed by suddenly straightening. It held the cupcake close took back into the hallway. With it gone, Mike rolled back onto his side. " _If it comes back in here with that pizza…"_ The thought cut off as he stared at the plush form of Foxy right beside him. He reached out and clutched it in his hand, "Foxy, you have to help me." He mockingly begged the inanimate creature. "My body's turning against me and I think I might be losing it."

Naturally Foxy did nothing. Which was actually a relief; Mike didn't think he was well enough to deal with talking toys. It was hard enough that a life sized jack-in-the-box was trying to feed him. Speaking of which, the Puppet must have crept behind him as it chimed attentively. Mike turned back full of dread and was relieved to see a glass of water instead of any other foodstuff. He accepted it thankfully, though did find himself studying it before daring to drink it, then tried to pass it off as nothing as he drank. His mouth already tasted less stale.

To his immediate annoyance, his phone started ringing the second he was chugging the water. He inwardly groaned at the thought of having to get up, go into the dining room, and then talk to some random person… Unless he didn't have to. Mike glanced to the Puppet which was now turned towards the door, staring down the hall. It had been relatively passive and helpful enough already without any indication that it was still angry about the day before.

"Could you grab that?" The Puppet obediently did so without even a hitch. It left the room and returned with the phone. Of course, by now the call had ended. Mike checked and could see that it was Sam who called, again, and exhaled. "Sam's checking in on me again…" He wasn't sure what the point of voicing his disturbance to the Puppet was. "And if I don't call him back he's going to work himself up."

He huffed a bit and dialed the number. It wouldn't have been a problem if he wasn't feeling like this; in fact, he would've been excited to see if he had found anything. Sam answered with a quick greeting, "Hey Mike. I was just about to call back. I found something."

"Yeah?" Mike's voice sounded disinterested and Sam was taken aback.

"Something up?" Sam inquired.

The former security guard quickly explained the situation. "I think I got food poisoning. If you're not doing anything, maybe you could drive by and drop off some antacids?"

There was a pause on the line. "…You… Want me to go over there? Where you and- it can't hear me, can it?"

Mike rolled over again, feeling a swell of discomfort forming again along with the slight burn of acid. "I don't know. Just toss it in the window. It's in the back of the house- Hold on."

And then Mike was gone. Too much water mixed with the lingering agony from the pizza. The phone sat untouched on the bed as the sound of Sam speaking could be heard. The Puppet stared intently at the phone as a low static started to grow in its chest, it hearing the other human on the line. It snapped out of its glare when Mike returned. He was swearing under his breath as he sat down on the bed. He felt a little a better now, or was able to sit upwards for a while to talk on the phone.

"I'm here, barely," he complained, his voice hoarse.

"Is this from those cupcakes you've been eating?" Sam asked in disbelief. Before he could assume the worst, and Mike had to think about cupcakes, he broke in with a response.

"Remember that garbage I was supposed to toss out from the freezer? One of the pizzas still had a good date so… You would've done it too. I know for a fact that you don't throw anything out. That's why you had me do it."

Sam made a disgusted noise into the receiver. "I wouldn't have done it. Mike, I hate to tell you, but those freezers were practically defective. They were going on and off all the time; everything was spoiled."

"Why are you telling me this now after you know I've eaten the pizza?" Mike groaned out and rubbed the sweat off of his forehead. He was shocked that he was sweating with how dried out he felt.

Sam was upfront, "…Spite. Mostly because you're making me risk my life to give you antacids. If the Puppet recognizes me it's game over."

Mike fought the urge to roll his eyes, "Really, I appreciate it. I'll see you then." With the phone placed aside he was able to collapse back onto the bed. "He's not coming in but he's coming by. Just stay away from the windows and you don't have to see him."

There was no movement or acknowledgement. Mike noticed and looked over to it, seeing it stand there beside the bed in its 'default pose'. The default pose being what he labelled when it would just stand there and watch him. It hadn't done this since it had been upset the day before; he took it as a sign. "Something wrong?" It didn't respond traditionally and instead just turned itself to look at the window. It then went completely still once more. Mike shrugged it off and laid back down. It took about thirty minutes until Sam could be heard in the driveway.

"Mike?" Sam called out through the open window, standing underneath it. "Mike, I meant what I said earlier. I'm not coming in." The former security guard dragged him off the bed and to the window. "You look awful. Are you sure you shouldn't be in an emergency room somewhere?" He was obviously concerned and Mike leaned against the window frame.

"I'm pretty close to being in a ditch somewhere, Fritz. If I don't get this under control I don't know what I'm supposed to do about work." He couldn't sit in an office like this, even if the place he was guarding wasn't anything like the Pizzeria. Sam frowned in disapproval at the outright use of his name and tossed the bottle to him. Mike immediately twisted it open and retrieved a couple of pink tablets. "So what did you find out?" he asked as he popped them in his mouth. The chalkiness wasn't exactly easing him any, but he was holding out hope that it would somehow help.

"Are you sure it's a good idea? I mean, we could wait."

Mike raised a brow, "Nobody's going to hear anything or know what's going on. I'm not-… Oh." He caught what he meant and glanced off to the side towards the other side of the room. "He doesn't care. Don't worry about it."

It was the Puppet. That was what had Sam so afraid to linger or risk saying anything that would possibly trigger it, which Mike doubted as it never went outside. In a way Mike understood; in a way Mike didn't want to know what the animatronic used to do, as he only just got to the point of feeling comfortable around it. The Puppet, meanwhile, stared with an empty smile. All of its previously helpful behavior was hidden as it eyed him. If it spontaneously forgot who he was and began treating him like a stranger, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

"I've got a tape you need to listen to- Not on me, back at the warehouse- where that Phone Guy talks about how to put on the suits. I had to have gone through that entire box and it was the only tape saying anything about it. That guy could talk a lot, but a lot of it was unimportant. I got, maybe, one sentence of actual information and then a couple of minutes of stuttering. I've never seen- heard a guy be so much of a talker and still have practically no communication skills… Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason." Mike took a small swig of the water, hesitating in setting it down as a soft static noise started to fill the room. He already knew it was the Puppet and looked back. It hadn't moved from its position.

"I'll play it over the phone later. That way you don't have to come by," Sam offered and took a step back. "I'm going to take off now."

Mike was planning to stop him, but the Puppet was growing louder, so he instead let the other go. "Thanks again," he finished and shut the window, then looked back to the Puppet. "He's gone now. Better?" Mike asked, but then immediately noticed how unsteady he was. He sat back down on the bed, then collapsed on it. The static noise stopped and was abruptly followed by a loud slam.

Mike shot upwards on the bed, "What in the hell?!" His head shot to the side to see the Puppet standing beside the window which was now slammed shut. It smiled with a slight tinge of a glare around its eyes. Mike didn't even ask and simply dropped back on the bed on the spot. He rubbed over his face and tried to ignore the powdery taste still in his mouth. "I'm going to try and sleep this off…"

The next thing Mike knew; he was waking up in bed. His mouth tasted even worse, but his stomach was starting to feel a little better. He released the Foxy plush, which he had started grappling in his sleep, and sat upwards to look around the room. The Puppet was missing and hadn't left any sort of sign behind. His curiosity piqued some and he dragged himself out of the bed. He staggered down the hall, his body stiff and sore from the prolonged sleep. It might have been the grogginess, but he was starting to become worried about the Puppet's behavior.

It probably wasn't that smart of him to bring Sam into the picture. The Puppet was clearly not trusting of humans. He knew this by its violent reaction towards him when it first appeared. Earlier he had been so focused on his own sickness that he didn't realize how dangerous it really was. The Puppet could have lashed out at him like it did to Mike himself only a few days before. Then the damage would be done; someone could see, Sam could get hurt, and it would be a disaster that could've been avoided if he just thought it through.

The bedroom door was slightly ajar so Mike let himself in. "Hey…" It was at this moment that he realized he actually didn't have a name for the Puppet. He pushed this aside for the moment.

The Puppet was knelt by its box with its slew of plush toys sitting around it. It was holding one of the Freddys and a Chica, and its head snapped slightly upwards as its gaze fell on the human, surprised by his sudden appearance. It almost looked like it got caught doing something wrong.

"Mind if I come in?" It moved its head down like a partial nod and started to fidgeting with the plush toys.

Mike shuffled over and sat down on the bed. The Puppet moved uncomfortably and seemed both unwilling to touch the toys and yet unable to leave them be. It hit Mike that he had walked in on the Puppet, the animatronic that would have willingly attacked someone earlier, actually playing with the plush animals.

" _Oh, that's cute,"_ he wasn't sure if the mental comment was sarcastic or not, but the scene was just a small bit endearing. If anything it brought a smile out of Mike. "I'm not used to living with another person. Usually I just do my own thing and don't sweat the details."

The Puppet looked over in interest. Mike reacted by looking down at the floor. "And this is the second time I did that. First was that mix up with me leaving and now was this thing with Sam. I brought a guy in who's a stranger to you into what was- is your house. It's not mine, no matter what the papers say." Then he remembered that he never actually told it about the will. He kept going like it didn't matter. "So I botched that too. It's not the stupidest decision I've made. Not even the worst one this week, considering I ate the pizza."

There was a familiar soft chiming and the Puppet trembled a small bit; the Puppet was laughing. Mike felt his body relax at the complete absence of anger. "I'm going to get better at this one of these days…"

And it hit him like a ton of bricks that 'one of these days' wasn't too far out of the picture. He was living with it now, accommodating it as it did so for him, and unless there was a massive change in the near future there was a good chance that he was going to spend a lot of his time here. Almost like being a night guard, except watching a single animatronic constantly.

He didn't really know how he felt. There was alarm from the idea, but Mike didn't feel positively or negatively about it. It didn't help that the Puppet was being so passive with him. Or that it had wept in front of him. Or that he walked in on it with a bunch of plush toys. Regardless of what happened earlier with Sam, Mike didn't feel ill will.

"…I don't trust a lot of people myself. Never had. You just put up a guard to keep from getting screwed over by people, and usually it doesn't work… But I do trust Sam. He's never done me wrong. If it's any consolation, I wouldn't have told just anyone I needed help."

Now the Puppet looked downwards. There was still a disinterest and coldness towards Sam, and the Puppet evidently didn't want to deal with him. Mike decided to let it drop; this was good enough for now.

"Foxy's still back in the bedroom if you want him…" He reached down and lifted one of the Chicas, noticing that it was different from the normal Chica. "I didn't get to see these the other day when you were pulling them out." The Puppet then rose to full height and approached the box again, silently retrieving something before turning back with that same smile.

Mike had to fight off the look of horror that tried to emerge on his face. The Golden Freddy plush had returned with a vengeance, looking more possibly poisonous than even the pizza did. The nausea that still lightly lingered didn't help the fact that the animatronic was coming at him with it. Just seeing it up close made it so much worse; he could only imagine the brown stain on its belly being old, dried blood.

" _Death by Fredbear… Never thought I was going out this way."_ He tried to hide his discomfort and took the plush into his hands. The Puppet patted the toy on the head like it was alive, affectionately doting on it before literally putting it into Mike's hands. " _Maybe it's an animatronic thing. Maybe it thinks it's alive too… But I never saw Freddy stuffing suits full of teddy bears."_ Looking closer he noted something else. " _This is probably the one from the picture. If there's no other ones floating around and Fredbear was taken down… Maybe this is the last one. If there was anything in the warehouse…"_ He had a possible new lead literally dropped into his lap, but decided to ignore it for the moment.

This was enough of a recovery for now.

* * *

Sam dropped the stack of files onto the desk in frustration. Nothing. There was nothing here. As much as Sam was willing to try to ignore the past, Mike's search into the history of the Pizzeria had gotten himself enticed as well. Unfortunately, all he could find was a single tape on Springlock suits and absolutely nothing else. He was just about to give in and call it a night, it was quite late now, when his phone rang. He reached to it and answered without hesitation, "Hello?" There was a pause on the other line. "Hello? Wrong number?"

Then a voice cut through, "Sam…"

"Mike?" Sam blinked in confusion. "Hey. I didn't expect you to call me. How are you feeling?" Mike sounded a little tired or like his voice was hoarse, but he spoke without a hitch.

"Doing a lot better. I think I'm past most of it…" The way he trailed off was odd.

"Is something wrong?" Sam pried.

Mike hesitated before speaking, "Sam… Something happened earlier… I can't tell you much, but I think someone's watching us. They're watching us investigate. I know it sounds crazy, but someone was standing outside on the road earlier, staring at the house."

The technician's body went cold. "Oh no… Do you think he saw anything? Like… You know." A wave of panic was racing along his spine.

"No. I don't think so. He knows I'm here, whoever he is, but he didn't see you and I don't think he saw Marionette either. Just…" He exhaled in distress and went silent for a short while. Sam waited patiently until he continued. "Here's the plan; you keep researching over there, I'll keep looking around here, and we'll just… Limit contact for a few days. If he sees you he'll know you're involved, and we can't have that."

"No, we can't…" Sam looked through the cameras at the dark warehouse. "I won't come back by. Do I call you?"

Mike continued, "Don't. He might track the calls or listen in on them. I'll call you in a few days once everything's quieted down. Don't call me until then, alright?"

The technician agreed without a hitch, "Alright…" There was a short period of silence before Mike continued.

"I just know that if he sees us we'll be in danger, you'll be in danger, and that's… I don't even know what we'd do then. Who even knows who he is or what he would do."

"Well, you always have the Puppet at least. I don't think it's just going to let some guy walk in and kill you." Sam said it as a serious statement, but Mike laughed a little. Mike wasn't exactly one to laugh at anything Sam said, so he was suspicious. "Mike, is… Is there something else going on?"

There was a shuffling against the phone before Mike blurted out, "Hold on, the guy's back. I have to go. Remember, don't call until I call you." With that he hung up, leaving Sam confused and concerned. He knew that something was wrong.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Five_

Mike sent one last glance over his uniform to make sure everything looked on par. The last thing he wanted was to go in looking like a mess. Maybe it hadn't been such a big deal when he worked the night shift alone, but now he was working a day shift with a partner, and that meant some effort needed to be given. He stepped out of the bedroom while glancing at his watch; right on time. A good thing too, as he needed to get out of the house after go for hours stuck in one location.

He slipped his cap on and started out, "Alright, I'm on my way out."

If there was one thing that Mike had noticed, it was how clingy the Puppet was becoming. After being so aggressive previously, it was now constantly following him around the house. It wasn't that Mike minded, it was just that he didn't exactly understand. The Puppet didn't really want him to do anything but wanted him always in the vicinity. It was apparent to him as the animatronic appeared that there was going to be a little bit of a struggle getting out the door. It silently snuck up behind him and glanced over the patch on his left sleeve. For this job it was a patch that replaced a badge.

"It's just a little different from the Pizzeria's," Mike pointed out. He followed with a slightly amused smirk, "Not that hideous purple color." If there were any perks to this job it would be the lack of bright purple clothes. It studied the patch before turning to leave down the hall. "Not going to walk me to the door?" Mike verbally nudged and it made its feelings abundantly clear when it turned and disappeared into its room. At least it wasn't blocking off his escape, he supposed, and passed through the living room to grab his keys.

Sam hadn't called this morning. Personally, Mike was slightly relieved at this, but it did seem odd as Sam wasn't one to show restraint. Even when Mike would directly tell Sam not to call he tended to sneak one in. To be blunt, Sam was a bit more overworked than he let on, so phone calls, errand runs, and coffee breaks were the only time he was able to stop and rest. Mike assumed this is why he would spam his phone. Though it wasn't like he was on call anymore. A fleeting thought passed about the fate of the Pizzeria, which was currently unowned by anyone.

See, 'Fazbear Entertainment' was sort of a scam. It played itself to be a big company, and it once was, but after years of disputes and buying out it really had come down to only a few people in management. Even when the business would 'change hands' it would be the same people with a slightly different name. Fredrick was the one really overseeing everything and he was now gone. The few other names in the business were either unwilling to step in or afraid to actually say they were connected with the failed chain.

As far as Mike knew, this was the last Pizzeria that hadn't been refurbished or changed into something else, and that was because it was one of the oldest. The fate of Freddy's was in limbo. Mike found it interesting, but not concerning. Unless someone tried to reopen it, of course, because Mike wasn't too against the idea of taking a match to the place. As he passed the couch he noticed the Golden Freddy plush sitting there and snatched it up. It was here anyway, so perhaps Mike would drop by the warehouse later and show it to Sam.

"I'm going!" he called again.

The Puppet was silent and didn't even immerge. Mike exhaled in a semi-patient manner and stepped out, locking the door behind him. The office building Mike currently worked at was pretty uninteresting. There was nothing spectacular about it and he wasn't even certain what they actually did. The only reason they needed security at all was because of one practice that they couldn't get mastered; firing people. Someone was always coming in after the fact, angry and ready for a fight, and while Mike felt for them he couldn't do anything beyond coaxing them away.

Thankfully in his time there only one serious event happened, and it involved two coworkers coming to blows. He left the plush bear in the backseat and headed in, taking into the office where the other guard was already waiting. Natalie had been working the job longer than Mike had and seemed to take to the routine better. From what Mike knew about her, which he had learned from the talking they did during the quiet times in their shifts, this was one of many jobs she took to support her family. From what he knew the family owned a pawn shop that had gone under, sending them into financial straits.

They were doing better, it seemed, but Natalie worked constantly. She had her sandy hair pulled back in a ponytail; this was the first thing he noticed as he walked in because she was facing away.

"That clock's not right, is it?" Mike asked first thing, looking past her to the clock on the wall.

She looked back, surprised by his sudden appearance and pausing to finish a bite of donut. "No, it's fast. Someone overcompensated when they set it. Seems like the thing is either slow or fast." She offered a paper bag. "I got a couple more since you're always stealing mine." Mike had no qualms taking the bag and immediately delving in.

"So did you get that thing with the house straightened out?" Natalie asked curiously as she twisted in the chair. Mike hesitated; he had forgotten he had told her and now had no idea what to say. What could he say? Everything was either unbelievable at best and completely insane sounding at worse. Then again, he preferred that. He didn't want anyone really finding out more than they needed to.

"Sort of. I've been staying over there… There's a lot of emotional baggage that Fredrick left behind. All over the house. I inherited it all and don't know what to do with it."

"So there really wasn't any family? Wow…" She sounded sympathetic. "I can't even imagine not having a family… At least he didn't die alone."

Mike nodded, but then found himself slipping out, "There may have been a son, may be a son, but I'm not sure yet. For now, I'm the one picking up the pieces."

Natalie looked to him, "I'm sorry. You two seemed close."

The man shrugged it off, "Don't worry about it. I'm glad to do this for him. That's enough for me." For a little while after that the conversation halted. Not in a bad way, but in a sort of 'let's just work' way.

The day moved at a relatively sluggish pace. Nobody had any issues and so Mike and Natalie really had nothing to do. They occasionally made small talk, but it wasn't until around noontime when the woman became a bit bolder. "So, Mike, I might have this Sunday off if everything goes well. Maybe we could meet outside of work?"

The question surprised Mike who raised his brows, "You mean, like a date?" It felt weird saying it; he hadn't been on the dating scene for a while and currently wasn't making much of an effort, or he didn't think he was.

"Not a date! Just two co-workers meeting for drinks on a day off. Nothing weird or anything," Natalie defended. "If it makes you feel any better I'll even go in uniform." The joking did seem to make everything less awkward. Mike wasn't really sure what to say. His answer felt like an immediate 'sure', because he was friends with her and didn't mind going out for a drink. However, as much as he liked her he wasn't exactly looking for a romance with her. If anything he feared that would make work extremely awkward. Not to mention that he couldn't exactly date with his 'roommate'.

"What the hell, sure," Mike answered with a smile. "You name the place and I'll be there."

Natalie brightened quite a bit, "Have you seen that little pub they opened over by Olsen's? I've been wanting to try it out, but it just seems… Kind of sad to go on my own."

Mike smiled cheekily, "Not for me it's not. Here, I'll give you my cell number." He grappled for his cell phone only to find it missing. He didn't usually forget his phone and briefly wondered if anyone was trying to reach him. "Just don't call me today, I won't be answering," he joked and jotted the number down.

"Thanks! I'll call whenever I get news of the schedule." She folded and put the number in her pocket. "I could use the extra work, but I could use the extra drink," she joked, and Mike chuckled back good-heartedly.

The rest of the workday was pretty uneventful and Mike left as soon as his shift was over. While driving back he found himself taking the road by the warehouse, almost purposefully, and slowed as he noticed the company van parked in the parking lot.  _"_

 _So Sam's already here… Maybe I should stop in and explain why I haven't answered my phone."_ He assumed that Sam started calling whenever he got to the warehouse, but again the machine was missing and couldn't be checked. " _He can check the bear while I'm in there."_ He glanced into the rear view mirror to see that the bear was still resting in the back. He didn't know why he had thought it would move and blamed his paranoia as he pulled into the parking lot. He grabbed the grimy bear and headed inside.

He entered the office first thing, but found that Sam was somewhere else. He tossed the Golden Freddy plush on the desk and sat down in the chair to wait.

Sam appeared a few minutes later carrying a small box of papers. When he noticed Mike he got a strange look on his face, one of confusion and disbelief, "Mike?"

Mike looked back with a relatively standard look, "Hey Fritz, just came by after work to check in. I have something you might want to see." He gestured over to the plush toy which Sam sent a glance to.

"…Alright, first thing, don't call me 'Fritz', people will get the wrong idea."

Mike fought the urge to roll his eyes, looking amused, "What people? We're in an empty warehouse."

The technician continued, "Second, I didn't know you were coming by after everything… How are you feeling?"

The former security guard shrugged it off, "Better. I just needed to sleep it off. I came by because I left my cell at home and didn't know if you were planning on calling or not." He leaned forward to the computer and casually checked through the security cameras. Not that there was a threat of any kind, but just from the sheer urge to do so. It took him a few seconds to notice the incredulous look on Sam's face. "…Any reason why you're staring at me, or…?"

Sam set down the box of papers before looking straight to the man in the chair. "Mike, why would I call you after last night? After everything you said, telling me not to call you, I wasn't going to risk it. You know me better than that." Mike was now the one staring as Sam exhaled and adjusted his hat. "So what happened with that guy? Did he leave again? I'm guessing he did if you went to work. I was looking through some past files and it's always possible it's another security guard, or even a family member of a guard or something. We should be careful."

There were a few moments of silence. Then Mike decide to be blunt, "Sam, I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

The technician blinked, "You know, about last night when you called."

Mike shook his head, "I didn't call you last night."

With every sentence Sam became more firm and more confused, "You did call me last night. Don't you remember? It was maybe eleven, you said there was a guy watching you from the sidewalk and you were afraid that we were being watched. Then you told me not to call you because you thought the phone was tapped."

"That… That doesn't make any sense," Mike firmly stated. "The only guy wandering around the house yesterday was you. There wasn't anyone outside last night. Hell, I was asleep most of the time. I don't even think I was awake at eleven." He stood and moved so that Sam could take the office chair.

The man collapsed in it and leaned back with the confusion still prevalent. "But- Mike, I swear, you called me. I wasn't asleep, I wasn't hallucinating, you called me  _here_ and told me all of this… Did you have a fever? Were you delirious or something?" Mike shook his head and tried to think.

He genuinely believed Sam. The man wouldn't lie, he just wasn't the type, and this was too far for a practical joke of any kind. Someone had to have called and if it wasn't Mike himself then it was someone posing at him. His mind briefly flashed over the thought that the 'guy outside' was a rouse for whoever called. Another man could've easily faked his voice, but tapping the number was out of the question, unless Sam didn't check the number. He briefly wondered if it was the Puppet, but it occurred to him that it would've been asleep in its box. Unless…

" _I forgot to wind the music box."_ That single thought sent a strange chill through him. Was it actually possible that the fake voice had been the Puppet? It was certainly there and it could've possibly been awake, but he hadn't heard it make coherent noises other than chimes and static before. There also wasn't a motive, unless it was trying to get rid of Sam. Mike mentally swore as he noticed how much all of this was making sense. It had the time to do it, it had the motive, it was just the ability to do so that made everything so horrifying. The Puppet played puppeteer, hanging them both by phone cords.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

Mike decided to be honest, "It could've been the Puppet."

Sam didn't look like he believed it at first, but then a look of alarm passed his face. He inhaled sharply, "Mike… You called it the  _Marionette_ during the phone call."

Silence set in between them. There was a possibility it could still be a human guard, maybe the Fitzgerald fellow, but it seemed very unlikely. All of the evidence pointed to one subject, and that was the animatronic. Mike felt betrayed, felt confused, and felt… like it was very fortunate that he left his phone at home.

He reached for the office phone and handed it to Sam. "Call my cell."

Sam stared down at the red phone, "Uh… Any particular reason why?... Wait." He was catching on, but Mike explained anyway.

"My cell's at the house. You call and if  _I_ answer the phone we'll have all the evidence we need. We'll have the Puppet by the strings."

Sam raised a brow, "You must be mad if you're making comments like that. That's really below your standard." Mike narrowed his gaze just a little and Sam started to dial the number into the phone. Mike waited, tapping his fingers on the table irritably.

Then Sam spoke, "Oh, Mike, hey… Look, I know I wasn't supposed to call, but I needed to check on you after last night…" There was talking on the line, Mike could hear it from where he was, and he felt his temperature boil. "Well, at least he left…" Sam continue until Mike held his hand out, seeking the receiver. Sam eagerly handed it over, not wanting to play along any longer. Mike lifted the receiver to his ear and, as disturbing as it was, listened to his own voice.

 _"-and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you because of that."_ It sounded so much like him and was very buyable. It made everything so much worse. Mike clenched his teeth as he heard the other finish. _"I'll call you whenever it's safe, alright? Don't call, don't come over, because it'll put you in danger."_   Mike couldn't hold back anymore.

"Surprise."

With that single word everything changed. There was a static, a noise like a gasp, and suddenly the call ended. Mike practically slammed the phone on the receiver and turned to leave, "I have to go pop a weasel." He grabbed the Fredbear, threw it back in the car, and headed off.

Mike had to hold back to keep from speeding home. He just felt like he had been lied to, again betrayed, and a small part of him had a lingering dread. It had gone behind his back and manipulated him. Suddenly he realized why he forgot his phone; it hadn't been on the table where it usually was. Somehow instead of realizing this he completely forgot, and it annoyed him. This was why it hadn't thrown a fit when he left this morning, it had already believed it nudged Sam out of the way. And this was after Mike had explained the night before that he trusted Sam.

In fact, this meant that it was only hours after that when it made the call. Mike frowned bitterly as he pulled into the driveway and stepped out, unlocking the door and heading inside. The Puppet didn't wait for him at the door. "There's no point in hiding. We live in the same house, we're going to run into each other eventually," Mike called out in an attempt to coax the animatronic out. Naturally, it didn't just appear, and so the former security guard went on the hunt. The first place was the Puppet's bedroom and he looked around.

"You're just making this more difficult and dragging this out longer. Stop hiding from me." There was nothing under the bed or in the bed. He checked the box only to see the mound of stuffed plush toys. Then he headed into the bathroom, nothing, then the bedrooms, nothing, and finally in the master bedroom where his focused turned to the closet. " _Of course it would go back in there."_ Mike opened the closet and peered upwards to the attic entrance. It didn't look disturbed, but he couldn't put it past another trick, especially now that he knew the Puppet was very capable of it.

He dragged the file cabinet closer and used it as a boost to get into the attic crawlspace. There he turned on his flashlight and looked around. There were mostly boxes, old decorations for the Pizzeria, boxes of newspapers, and hundreds of shadowy places that the black and white being could be hiding. He lifted himself fully inside and shuffled around. He approached one of the stacks of newspapers and looked over it, then to the actual newspaper itself. The bold headline caught his interest, " _Missing children connected to character themed restaurants."_

This was the full paper to the clips he saw in the warehouse. Interest filled him as he continued to glance through. More headlines stood out.  _"Child bitten by animatronic in critical condition", "Freddy's reopens to satisfactory reviews',_ and the last one that caught his attention the most,  _"Man killed in suit accident."_ Mike tugged the newspaper closer and read over the beginning of the article.

" _Henry Johnson, thirty-six, was killed Monday afternoon at Fredbear's Family Diner in an animatronic suit accident. The owner of the restaurant, Fredrick Fazmann, claims that the incident was caused by a fault in the suit. 'We are very careful with our suits and instruct our employees on how to use them safely. We'll be investigating this, but for now we're thinking that it was a fault in manufacturing,' Fazmann claims. There's no negligence or foul play suspected at the moment. For the moment, Fredbear's Family Diner will be closing its doors for a short while to recover from the incident."_

Mike wondered if this suit was one of the 'Springlock' suits he had heard of. He noticed the name of the restaurant, "Fredbear's… Was that the suit that was retired?" He checked over the two other newspapers before grabbing them and a few more, hugging them to his chest, and continuing the climb around the attic. First thing was first, he needed to find the Puppet, and he continued to crawl around in the crawlspace. He shined his light on every shadow and looked behind every dusty box, but could find nothing.

Something suddenly mentally struck him, and epiphany, and he huffed, "Damn it." Mike frowned more firmly and made his way out of the attic. He dropped the newspapers on the bed and made a beeline back into the Puppet's room, back to the box. This time he actually started to take the dolls out of the box. Sure enough, underneath a Bonnie plush he caught a patch of white stripes on black fabric.

"I see you. You can come out now or I'm going to dig you out. I'll give you the chance to save what little dignity we have left." After a few moments the Puppet started to rise out of the box. Mike had his arms crossed firmly to show his disappointment as the Puppet rose before him. It had the same smile as always and watched attentively.

"It's good to see you putting your spare time to such good use," Mike sarcastically pointed out. "Laying to Sam, lying to me, and I know what you're thinking. 'I didn't lie to you directly so how did I lie to you?' You know for a fact that lying to Sam lied through to me, about this whole fake story about some random guy who doesn't exist, after I told you how close I was to Sam. I don't even know what to think!"

The Puppet aimed its head down a little more to stare at the floor. "And I trusted you! Which is unbelievable, I don't even trust my own mother, and then you do this. For what? What exactly did you get out of this, other than getting rid of Sam, who doesn't even live here?" Mike huffed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Then he waved it off and turned away towards the door. "Just forget it." There was more he wanted to say but he knew that for a various amount of reasons he simply couldn't. He was a little less frustrated, at least, and that's all he could ask for.

"I think you're overreacting."

Mike couldn't help but jolt upwards at the voice. It suddenly invaded the conversation and alarmed him fully. Slowly he looked back towards the Puppet in the box. It hadn't moved from its spot and hadn't lifted its head at all. "…Excuse me?" Mike asked further, trying to make sure he had just heard that correctly. Or, more precisely, he had heard it period.

The animatronic moved in a slight shrug, "I think you're taking this more personally than he would."

Mike responded the only way he knew how, "Oh my God…" The Puppet looked to him and shivered with a chime; light laughter.

The Puppet's actual voice was nothing that Mike would've ever expected. Mike probably would have anticipated one of three voices; either he expected a voice that was a constant mimic of his own, one that was in two tone like something out of a horror movie, or some sort of clown or jester sounding thing. None of these fit. It anything, the Puppet sounded too normal. If it had called Sam like this it would've definitely passed as a normal human, and just that alone made it so uncanny that it was a shock. It was soft, light, and inoffensive; it shouldn't have come out of that unmoving mouth.

"When did you start talking?" Mike questioned. "And I mean talking, not whatever happened with the call." For a moment it didn't seem like the Puppet actually intended to continue speaking. It fully intended to casually suggest Mike was taking everything too far and then fall completely silent. The former security guard couldn't let that happen.

"Just now, but I've always been able to speak." And it sounded more amused now as it explained this, like it was nothing at all. Its emotions were clearly present before him on the voice while its face remained the same.

Some things were blatantly obvious though. As strangely unfitting as the Puppet's voice was, there was no denying that it was clearly a more masculine voice. 'It' wasn't as genderless as Mike had originally treated it like it was. He stared at the Puppet, the Puppet stared back, and finally Mike spoke.

"I don't even know what I'm supposed to say to that." Indeed, he didn't, and he tried to keep himself relatively put together. "Is there any reason why you were giving me the silent treatment, or do you save it for special occasions? Like phone calls." He still wasn't letting him off the hook.

The Puppet didn't answer at first. Its face didn't change, but it fidgeted slightly and somehow the man swore he could visibly see it become uncomfortable. "I just haven't. I haven't had anything to say." There was a slight hesitance in his voice, like he was only saying it to answer the question.

Mike decided to let this question drop. "Plausible enough… But you're talking now, so something must have changed… I guess I caught you in the act, it wasn't like you could play the mute card again."

The Puppet eased and the mood lightened with a chime, "I guess not! Not that I intended to be caught…"

Mike felt a lot more comfortable when he didn't know what it was thinking. He suddenly realized that as the conversation began and the continuing small talk didn't help. He finally raised his hands and turned, "Okay, I've got to go find my sanity."

As he started out of the room he could hear the Puppet move out of the box and as he opened the door it spoke again. The pleasantly playful tone in its voice was gone and replaced with a tentatively concerned one. "Where are you going?" There was meekness there that wasn't present earlier when he first spoke.

"Into the master bedroom. I'm going to sneak Sam in through the window and we're going to pop antacids," the last part was obvious sarcasm on Mike's part.

The Puppet was calmed but fell back into silence once more. Mike paused in the doorway for another moment before continuing through. He needed to get some distance to clear his head. This was all too much; he hadn't even properly finished telling it off and now he had to escape to get his bearings on the situation at hand. Maybe he would just read over those newspapers and get some satisfaction from the answers they provided.

He didn't know what was worse; how calm the Puppet was about the call, or how terrified it sounded when it thought he was going to leave.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Six_

Mike wasn't entirely certain he could face the Puppet again. He knew he would have to, but he wasn't sure he could. It was like he was in quicksand and every time he got out he would step back in.  _"_

 _Maybe I am overreacting… I can't believe it's able to talk,"_ he thought as he ran a hand through his hair, replacing his security hat shortly afterwards. He hadn't even changed out of his uniform yet and already the whole day turned to insanity. If he was honest, though, the insanity was the fact that Mike still didn't understand most of the phenomenon happening. He lifted the second newspaper he had found and read over it.

" _The 'new and improved' Freddy Fazbear's Pizza reopened last week to a flow of tentative but hopeful young customers. Fazbear Entertainment reassured that all health and safety precautions have been taken, along with a new security measure built into the animatronics themselves. With the investigation into the five missing children still being underway, the new management reassures that the new Pizzeria is a safe haven for children and adults alike."_

He noticed the words 'new management', but knew that it was a ply. Whenever the Pizzeria was claimed to change hands it would always mysteriously go to another similarly named company. Just the same, Fredrick would always somehow continue to be in the management, claiming to outside parties that he was a manager while telling actual employees that he was the boss. It was just another way to cover their tracks. The picture of the building looked similar to the one he worked at, but the animatronics were definitely not the same. They looked a bit cutesier and a little like either plastic or porcelain.

He assumed that this restaurant also failed at some point moved onto the last newspaper he had read the title of. There were a few others stacked nearby, but it was headline of this one that caught him. A child had been bitten. He looked at the date and, as expected, it was in 1987. Time to see if he was right about his Foxy suspicion, and if he was going to owe Sam some of his pride.

" _The young child bit at Fredbear's Family Diner, name withheld, is still in the intensive care unit. Doctors say that his condition has again dropped from stable to critical, and that any surgery to repair damage will have to be postponed. New details about the accident have been released by authorities; the child had its head inside the mouth of the Fredbear animatronic when the animatronic malfunctioned, causing the injury to take place. This is the second major injury caused by these wearable suits in the last few months after the death of Henry Johnson."_

That was it. All spelled out right in front of him. It wasn't Foxy or pink Foxy that bit the child, but Fredbear who was retired afterwards, and Mike knew why.

"That's why the name wasn't released…" The picture of the boy was clearly showed the other son of Fredrick. It was undeniably the boy who was clutching the Golden Freddy doll in the photo and this solved the mystery of what happened to his other child. However, this meant that this child had not been murdered like the others, so he couldn't understand how it could be that it would become an animatronic.

But of course, Mike had a new solution for the question; he would directly ask the Puppet.

He straightened immediately and dropped the newspaper on the bed with the others, realizing that he now had an open ended source of information. The Puppet had directly spoken to him and showed it was more than capable of keeping a conversation. He had no doubts that it knew more than it led on; it was all a matter of getting it to talk, and, thankfully, he still had the advantage of catching it earlier. He glanced over at the Foxy plush still laying on the bed beside him and snatched it into his grasp. This was his ticket back into the room.

When Mike entered into the Puppet's room again he expected to find it doing something, like he usually did. Instead its box was closed tightly and it seemed to be inside. He hummed a bit before crossing closer and tapping on the box in a light knock. The box opened immediately, but instead of popping out the Puppet slowly rose from the box. It seemed a little delayed in its motions, but didn't seem to exert any certain emotion.

"I thought it was time Foxy returned home from his distant travels to down the hall," Mike remarked and offered the plush.

The Puppet perked and gladly took the doll in his hands, but said nothing. It carefully placed it down into the box with the others and looked to the human with curiosity.

"Keep him posted. I'm planning on actually trying to make dinner tonight, so I might lapse into another period of living hell," Mike added. It made the soft chime, but said nothing. It had returned to its state of not talking as though earlier never happened. Mike wasn't going to let that happen. "So do you go by the Puppet or the Marionette? Frankly, I don't think I've called you anything, so it's about time I asked."

A few moments passed and the Puppet seemed to briefly turn its head to look away, contemplating, but then looked back. He was clearly not wanting to continue speaking verbally, but caved as he could tell that was what Mike wanted. It was pretty obvious Mike wanted a response.

"Both are fine. I prefer Marionette, but you can call me whatever you like," he answered in an encouraging tone. As much as he didn't want to talk, he didn't give it away on his voice, though that might have been because he was relieved Mike wasn't still angry.

"Alright… That's how Sam caught you, you know. The voice was pretty close, but the wording was your downfall," Mike couldn't resist a small smirk. It faded off as he decided to get to work. He would be careful with his wording and steadily make his way into the conversation. "So bringing Sam back up, he said he's seen you before. Apparently his name is actually Fritz and he used to work at the Pizzeria when you were there. He said there was a guy named Jeremy working there or something." The Puppet gave no indication that it could tell it was being interrogated. "He said you worked in a prize corner?"

Marionette seemed to become slightly amused again, "I wouldn't say worked, but I was positioned in the prize corner."

Mike glanced down into the box, "Figures that's where you got all of those."

Immediately the Puppet's interest shifted as he looked down towards the box. "I've been collecting these for many, many years. The Prize Corner only had some of these, but the others I got after I was removed from the Prize Corner. These Funtime Foxy ones actually weren't supposed to be released-."

So quickly it had gone from not wanting to talk to suddenly going on a lecture on plush toys. Mike decided he needed to interrupt before it got too out of hand. "Do you remember why the place was shut down? I'm guessing some security guard keeled over or something." He hadn't meant to say that last part. Marionette rested its head on a hand, crossing its other arm as though to match how Mike had crossed his own.

"Hmm… I don't remember. It could've been anything." He hadn't addressed the murdering comment, but didn't seem surprised either.

"Yeah, that's true. You know, it actually used to be called 'Fredbear's Family Diner'? It wasn't even a pizzeria. I'm guessing that Fredbear was probably just another Freddy." The trap was baited and the Puppet eagerly wandered into it.

"Oh no. The name was similar, but if you saw them you would see why they changed. They wanted something a little smaller and a little less… Intimidating for the kids."

Mike couldn't help it, "But then they brought you in?" Instead of being offended, the Puppet again made that chiming chuckle noise. "But Fredbear could be worn or something, right?" he added in with a question. "One of those reversible suits that could be put on or taken off?"

At last the Puppet seemed to react. He swore that its smile changed a little and visibly grew smaller, and its voice deflated quite a bit. "I wouldn't know."  _"_

 _But you would know,"_ Mike fought the urge to point out. "I'm getting a little off topic, I guess. The diner was a long time ago. Probably nobody who was there is around to tell what happened... Or signed a disclosure agreement of some kind."

The silence was very thick at this moment. Mike coughed into his fist, "So what was the Pizzeria like in its prime? It was practically abandoned once I started working as a night guard."

The Puppet perked a bit, "I wouldn't have been able to tell that you worked as one of the security. You don't seem like the type." The human wasn't sure what that meant. "I would've remembered you, so it must have been after I was 'retired'."

Now this turned Mike's own interests, "Speaking of that… How exactly did you start living here with Fredrick?"

"…I needed somewhere to go. The other animatronics were set to be destroyed." Marionette's voice changed to a softer, more somber tone. Mike regretted bringing up Fredrick once again and wondered if he needed to back down while he was ahead. Instead, the Puppet willingly spoke, "Mike…" It was the first time it had used his name. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have done what I did." Mike's eyes widened a good deal. "I knew it was wrong and I still did it… But having him here- I couldn't  _stand_ it." The bitter tone was accentuated with the static.

"Well, he's not coming back now," Mike reassured him. "You could've told me. I didn't think you really cared unless they were in the house. I assumed that's why you attacked me."

Marionette seemed to get a slightly confused look for a moment, "I attacked you because you were following me."

The former security guard sputtered and knew he may be starting some sort of argument, "I didn't even see you until you flew out of the closet- Okay, stop, we're getting off subject again." Finally, he yanked off the Band-Aid, "Look, I'm trying to figure out some things about the Pizzeria."

"I know," Marionette simply interrupted. This quieted the human for a few moments. The Puppet turned away from him and stared at the wall blankly, slouching forward just a bit. There was obviously distress and it took a moment to simply sit there.

Mike rubbed the back of his neck, stopping in his motions when the other spoke again. "Forget it. It's not important." The Puppet slowly turned to look at him when Mike said this. "It's just going to be a mistake digging up the past. Let's just let it drop and pretend it's not important."

Mike wasn't exactly telling the full truth. He didn't plan to stop investigating and he probably would eventually ask more questions again, but it was obvious from the Puppet's behavior that he was on the boundary of going too far. He wasn't afraid of it turning violent, but he was afraid of him deciding to go silent for good. Not just because of the answers he sought; he really had started to become comfortable with the being, even with the phone incident and the sudden speaking, and didn't want to jeopardize that now. He could see Marionette tenseness recede just a little.

"But I meant what I said about dinner. Kill me now," Mike finished his sarcastic remark and left the room. He assumed that the Puppet would be happy by his decision to leave and would want time alone following the previous conversation. Instead it recreated its previously clinging behavior of following and watching him silently as he worked. It followed him into the kitchen and watched him cook without getting involved, so he wasn't in the way.

It was basically the simplest version of spaghetti Mike could make, save making the frozen kind. The human then made two plates, face palmed once he realized he didn't need two plates, Marionette standing there had somewhat thrown him off, and just left it there. The last few times he had sat down to eat the Puppet had left to do other things. It didn't have any interest in eating so he simply assumed that it couldn't. Perhaps because of the second plat, the animatronic reacted accordingly and stayed with him through the meal.

He tried to just eat like it wasn't awkward, but with Marionette sitting in the chair across from him, resting against the table and watching him, he couldn't ignore it. It just stared him down with that wide smile; it made it a little difficult to eat. His mind went back to the questions he hadn't asked like he had planned and tempted him with a possible conversation. However, the animatronic still wasn't speaking, and the human didn't want to drag words from it like earlier.

So he instead decided to initiate a different conversation, talking about something that wouldn't immediately bring bad memories or anything into the picture. Unfortunately, Mike found himself talking about the last thing he wanted to; himself.

"So, uh… Yeah, I got a scholarship to college, but I was running low on funds and had to leave. By time that happened I was practically broke. I started taking odd jobs, a couple at a time, lived in an apartment that looked more like a shed- That's how I ended up taking the night shift at Freddy's." He actually could remember it pretty well, but he skipped over the less important details. "I already had a day job, so the night shift was the only time I had free. Freddy's didn't pay well and after a week I was dropped… But then a while later I was called back and offered a higher wage." He flashed a smile, "Thus began my on again, off again relationship with Freddy's."

The Puppet listened intently with what seemed like more curiosity. "I'd like to say risking my life every night is what turned my life around, but I don't know about that… I didn't exactly have a good childhood. I'm not going into details, but let's just say that walking out empty handed was the best outcome. Fredrick- I was close to him." He double checked to make sure the animatronic didn't seem upset. It seemed to be looking more towards the table or the plate of food, but still seemed attentive and wasn't looking like it was too disturbed.

"He reminded me a lot of my Grandfather. Not really old enough, but they had a lot of similar behaviors. Now that's something worth talking about; I've been mostly raised in suburban areas, but I used to go spend holidays at my Grandparents' place all the time. They lived out in the country in an old farmhouse… Still do, actually. I call them a bit, but I haven't visited in a long while. I didn't want them to know about the money issues because I knew they'd want to help out. My folks borrowed a ton of money from them over the years; I couldn't do it to them."

For a moment Mike found his eyes glancing to his phone. Maybe he needed to go through with calling them. He then looked to his plate and took another bite of the spaghetti to both stall time and try to ignore the growing guilt. Marionette must have noticed his behavior as he was now looking to the phone with a slightly tilted head. "I used to spend summer and winter vacation with them. My folks didn't mind and my Grandparents loved it. In the summer there was fishing and hiking, sometimes we'd camp out in the field behind the house too. It was great."

He chuckled at the memories coming back. "In the winter the snow would take over everything. We'd sled, make snowmen, try to build igloos that never really worked out, and then I'd spend Christmas with them. It was really great. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday." As he paused to take another bite of food, the Puppet made that chiming 'laughter' once more. Mike glanced upwards and hummed in questioning, but it didn't say anything in response. He decided to shrug it off and to continue talking.

"Now my Grandmother can cook. She used to by Cornish hens and make them into what was practically a four course meal, then would bring out pie. Now me, I'm lucky this isn't charred to a crisp," he playfully remarked to the animatronic. "I miss them… I guess since I've got a stable place now I should call them. I won't be lying… Unless they try to visit. Don't worry, I would subject either of us to that." He smirked playfully while the Puppet seemed to look down for a second, as though thinking or simply pausing for a moment.

"There's not much on me that I can talk about. I'm sort of an average guy. You already know, we've lived together long enough for you to figure out how boring I am." Again the Puppet seemed to laugh, though Mike passingly wondered if it was directly at him. He shrugged it off enough and continued. "No real career, no relationship, and a constantly empty schedule; that's the way I live. Some people would call that pathetic… And so would I. It's a good thing that things are finally changing." That signaled the end of Mike's conversation. There wasn't really anything left to say.

The Puppet wasn't as clingy after that point. He noticed it followed him around still, but wasn't as constantly in contact as it had been earlier. The evening went relatively normal from that point on, as normal as it could be, and in the early evening Mike broke down and took his cell into the master bedroom. Part of him knew he was going to say something that gave away how abnormal everything was, but he couldn't hide from them any longer, not when now confronted with how quickly Fredrick had gone from fine health to death.

Yet as the voices came on the phone there was immediate joy. They both sounded older, they took turns sharing the phone, but they were so happy to hear his voice. So happy to talk, so happy to ask questions, and to Mike's relief he managed to pull off making everything sound alright. Once again he told a variation of the story about what happened with Fredrick. This one was that he had no living relatives and was close to Mike, that he got the house because he was listed as one of the heirs, and slipped in that he needed to fix up the house, insisting that it wasn't in visit able condition.

"All I really need is to take a can of paint to it and fix most of the bathroom fixtures. I can handle it by myself." There was movement outside the door in the hall. "Maybe, but it's really not worth paying someone to do. I can handle it." The bedroom door creaked open in a slow manner. "But I can come out and visit. I get some time off around the holiday; it'll be just like old times." Mike watched as Marionette slid into the room. He noticed that it was carrying the music box and spoke into the phone, "Hold on, I need to do something. I'll call you back in a minute, Grandpa."

There were a few more moments of exchanged dialogue before Mike actually managed to hang up the phone. Thankfully, the Puppet didn't react aggressively to someone on the phone. It waited until the call was ended before lowering itself to kneel on the end of the bed. "I broke down and called my Grandparents," Mike explained. "They're not coming or anything. The last thing I want is to give them a- … A reason to worry." He covered the word 'heart attack' well enough, or he hoped that he did. The Puppet made another chiming noise again.

Mike noticed it and identified it as amusement. "Want to let me in on the joke?" he was more curious than anything.

Surprisingly, Marionette did decide to explain, and it somewhat surprised him to hear the animatronic speaking again. "There was a Christmas tradition at the Pizzeria. Every year 'Santa Bear' would come and give gifts to the kids." His voice grew quieter as though it was a secret, "It was really just dear Freddy-bear with a beard and a hat taped to his head." he seemed thoroughly amused, though there was also something else, like a tiredness.

Amusement passed Mike too, "I can see that they were pulling out all the stops, as usual." This seemed to encourage the Puppet who continued to eagerly speak.

"But the children loved it! They would get free tokens and cookies, bought from somewhere else, and the candy canes that they had left over from the years before. When you mentioned Christmas, and your Grandparents, I couldn't help but think of Freddy handing out treats, or trying to through a beard of cotton." He now giggled a little harder; the chiming was now joined with actually vocal laughter.

Then the Puppet quieted and straightened him, smiling at Mike before pointing to the music box, "Wind me?" The former security guard took the music box in his hands.

"Here, I'll take you back to your box… Any particular reason why you can't wind the box? Not that I'm complaining, I'm just a little curious."

The Puppet rose off of the bed and hovered backwards towards the bedroom door. "I don't have enough time. Once the music starts, I stop."

The human followed him out of the room. "Then why don't you just get in the box and wind it?"

The Puppet turned away and continued down, "It's… No. It doesn't work. Now that you're here I don't need to try such desperate measures." He raised a black hand halfheartedly as though trying to wave it off, then fell silent as he disappeared into his bedroom and moved into his box.

"Don't feel guilty waking me to do it if I forget," Mike offered. "Ready?" The Puppet looked to him and then gave a visible nod. He certainly was starting to look tired, which Mike had only just now noticed. Maybe this was why he had been so ready to talk in the bedroom.

The soft music played from the music box as Marionette slipped into his box, closing it behind him and disappearing from the world. Mike set the box on the shelf and shut the light off before leaving. He still had the night ahead of him and, with the animatronic out of the way, he could do what he needed to. He called back his Grandparents and spoke for a while, then called Sam who surprisingly didn't answer the phone, and then began a relatively quiet night of going through the rest of the newspapers and searching through the attic.

The newspapers had been hidden for a reason; each one detailed an event at the Pizzeria that Fredrick had wanted to be forgotten. The disappearances of the missing children, the security guard deaths, the multiple reopening and closing of the restaurant; all of it was printed in black and white. It helped Mike establish a timeline, but unfortunately didn't give too much new information. He already knew about the bite and the incidents and the newspapers seemed to only hold vague details. The only thing he did find of interest were extra details.

Except for one thing he had stumbled upon accidently. One of the various stacks of paper actually hid something more, a folder. It was in this folder that Mike found the birth certificates and death certificates of Fredrick's family members. He noticed pointedly that the death date of one and the birthdate of the other was the same. " _Fredrick's wife did die during childbirth… It wasn't a cover of a Pizzeria accident."_ He actually felt a light sadness settle in. His eyes moved onto the other papers until he was suddenly interrupted.

Mike was jostled out of his findings by a banging noise from downstairs. He flinched and listened more intently, only to be rewarded with more noise filtering through. "Please tell me someone didn't break in…" Mike muttered as he made his way back to the exit of the attic and lowered himself back down. A distorted radio sounding noise hit his ears and he knew that the Puppet was awake, and from how loud it was he wasn't exactly pleased with something.  _"Did someone actually break in? Great, now I get to learn how to dispose a body…"_

He entered into the hall just in time to catch Marionette leaving his room and head down the hall towards the living room. Mike pursued, looking into the bedroom as he passed and noticing the state it was in. All of the plush characters were sprawled on the floor along with cables, old decorations, and various other items. They had all been yanked right out of the bottom of the Puppet's box and now laid there. The only evidence of their previous location was that one of the wires was still partially hanging out of the box. The bed also had the blankets torn off of it.

" _Is this what it does when the music box runs out?! It never did this before!"_ But Mike soon got his answer when he entered the living room and noticed where it was; at the couch. It violently started to pull the pillows off the couch, clawing at the fabric and uprooting what it could. Mike flinched as it hit him,  _"Damn, he's looking for the bear!"_ Horror filled his mind as he remembered grabbing the Golden Freddy plush, driving over to the warehouse, and couldn't remember if he brought it back. He certainly didn't bring it inside.

The Puppet noticed him and finally looked over. He stopped his frantic movements and spoke… Or Mike thought it might be speaking. The voice was extremely faint against the multitude of broken equipment noises also coming from its chest. The words he did hear were frantic and usually repeated the phrase, "He's gone."

Mike raised his hands in defense, "Calm down. He's got to be around here somewhere." Marionette didn't seem to catch the guilt on the human's face, or the dread, and instead dropped the couch cushion in its hands.

"Here, just…" He tried to think of a way to get the Puppet out of the room so that he could slip outside. "Go check the master bedroom. Maybe he somehow got in there." The striped being was too frantic to argue or rationalize, taking off down the hall and not noticing as Mike grabbed his keys and left the house.

" _Sam's not going to be there this late. What am I supposed to do, break in?... There's a crowbar somewhere in the back- Oh, thank God!"_ As he leaned to peer in the backseat his eyes landed directly on the gold colored plush sitting there, staring back at him.

Suddenly he remembered bringing it back, realizing how lucky he was that he didn't have to drive over to the warehouse in the middle of the night. He grabbed the bear and shut the door, "You're more trouble than your worth, Bear." He remarked with a small smile of relief. It almost seemed to stare back at him, but he ignored it as he hurried back inside.

"I found it!" he called down the hall. Marionette didn't even float back, he just suddenly flickered into existence in front of Mike, grasping onto the plush toy and holding it tightly to his buttoned chest. "Better?" Mike offered.

Marionette didn't respond immediately and simply continued to hold the doll to him. One of his hands gently stroked over its small back in a comforting manner, to comfort the inanimate object. Suddenly a thought hit Mike; he could still use the doll to get answers, but perhaps directly from the Puppet. After all, he had been so eager to talk about his collection earlier. It only seemed natural that he would could be coaxed into explaining more about the toy itself, and maybe that would lead to concrete answers about the past deaths.

…But he wasn't in the state to answer questions now. Mike couldn't coerce Marionette into talking after this mess.  _"Just another day of me fixing problems that I unintentionally caused. I always have tomorrow to wreck."_ He reached out to touch its shoulder, only hesitating for a split second before making contact with the black fabric.

"Come on, let's get you back to your box. He's not going anywhere," Mike gave a reassuring smile and Marionette seemed to calm down, following his lead back to the room. It wasn't until they were in the room that Marionette perked.

He floated around the room, and hand raised to his mouth while the other clutched the plush still. He seemed to be alarmed by what he was seeing and Mike felt a slightly amused smirk appear on his face. Marionette scanned the room and only approached the box last. He looked inside it, at the stuff outside, and said not a thing. The movements were enough to portray his embarrassment. He then made a slight effort to put some of the plush toys back, but gave in shortly after beginning and simply got into the box. Mike didn't hesitate to wind the music box and put it back to sleep.

" _I need a break,"_ he mentally muttered as he headed out to fix the couch. He didn't think he was able to fix the wreck in the bedroom; he would leave that for the Puppet.  _"Maybe I'll take Natalie up on that drink…"_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Seven_

The rest of the week had been mostly uneventful. Mike and Marionette had fallen into a pseudo routine of some kind. Mike would go to work, he would do any other tasks needed, and then he would come back to the house and spend his evenings with Marionette. During the day he would do everything that needed to be done, involving his actual apartment, what little social life he had, and occasionally popping by the warehouse. Unfortunately, Sam had been busy with various things and their investigation had been temporarily stuck on the backburner.

That being said, Mike hadn't yet gotten the nerve to try and coax Marionette to talk about what he knew. It had only been a few days and he feared the other would shut down for good. The closest that Mike had gotten was asking about the Golden Freddy plush, which the Puppet was purposely vague about. All he had said was that he had it for many years and that it was a rare plush, insisting that he had yet to see another like it. Mike wasn't sure what he meant by that, but assumed this was why neither he nor Sam could find any others.

Either way, the weekend came and Natalie was still free, so the plan to go out for drinks was still on.

"You're sure you're fine with this?" Mike felt the need to ask again as he pulled on his jacket and prepared to step out. The Puppet was on the floor in front of the couch with a mound of plush toys to his left and a box of sewing supplies to his right. Unbelievably, the Puppet knew how to sew, and after finding a tear on a Bonnie started to go through all of them searching for things that needed mending. Mike had no idea that he sewed, but assumed it was so he could mend himself.

He didn't seem like the type to let someone work on him. The Fredbear cartoon was on the television again. Another thing Mike had noticed about Marionette was his pickiness about the cartoon that he constantly kept on. When he was watching it he would watch the first season, but when he was using it as background noise alone he would play the second season too, and only then. Mike crossed over and sat down on the couch, not in a rush to head out the door. His interest was taken by a plush toy that looked somewhat like the Golden Freddy plush, except that it was Bonnie.

He lifted it and noticed that it had a weight to it. Almost like there was some sort of mechanism inside.

"Careful," Marionette chimed in, still stitching on a Chica's arm seam. "He's a finger-trap."

Mike was a little amused, "I wasn't intending to stick my finger in its mouth. What is it, one of those talking, moving toys?"

The Puppet finally looked over, "It was. They were popular, but were mostly defective. Most stopped working after a week." The human noticed all of the holes on it where the internal parts had worn through the thin, plush exterior.

"I can already see that you're going to have a blast sewing this one," Mike sarcastically remarked. "Why haven't you brought this one out at all? I haven't seen it before."

Marionette seemed to get a slight bit of a scowl on his face, "It's not one of my favorites. I never liked it."

Mike quipped a brow with a mix of amusement and curiosity, "Then why don't you just get rid of it?"

The scowl was gone and the normal smile returned, "But then I'd break my collection! We can't have that, regardless of how hideous he is." There was a chuckle and he continued stitching.

"Alright, then I'm taking off," Mike started to stand. "I'll be back way before Midnight, so don't worry about anything. Keep the doors closed and locked, don't go staring people down out the window, and Sam shouldn't be coming by, but if he does just leave him be, okay?" The Puppet was amused by the list and yet gave a quick nod.

Mike then headed out the door, got into his car, and drove to the bar. He didn't intend to drink more than one drink and was prepared to eat while he was there, so he thought it would be fine to drive himself to the bar.

The bar was small and styled in a pub fashion. It seemed homely and warm, and because it was a Sunday night there actually wasn't that many people inside. Natalie was already stationed on a bar stool. She hadn't worn the uniform like she offered and instead wore something casual. It didn't look like typical 'date' clothes, which made Mike feel more comfortable.

"Hey, don't I know you somewhere?" Mike teased as he sat down on the stool beside him.

Natalie pursed her lips and hummed, "I don't know. There's only one person who can make a joke that bad… Oh, Mike, hey! I didn't recognize you without your security garb!" Natalie then gave Mike a nudge in the arm to show that she was joking back. "You're late, by the way, I already got started." She gestured to her drink; a small glass of something pink and frothy.

"…On Pepto?" Mike joked back and she rolled her eyes.

"It's a Pink Squirrel, and you'd be surprised how quickly these can get you tipsy."

He smirked right back, "Just as long as I don't have to drag you home." He then made a motion for the bartender who crossed over to serve him. Mike wasn't a big drinker, starting with something light and planning for nothing else.

"I really needed this, so thanks for coming along," Natalie honestly admitted to her partner. "My older brother is falling on hard times now. He was planning on changing apartments, but now he's clinging to the one he he's living in. If it gets any worse he'll be stuck bunking down with me."

Mike was sympathetic, "I don't envy you."

The blonde scoffed, "Gee, thanks." Mike chuckled a little bit and had his drink refilled. The conversation eventually branched from her family to her job. "But I don't know. The security job I do with you pays well enough, but the one I do over at the mall just pays nothing. I'd get paid better to be a janitor… Speaking of which, I send my application in tomorrow."

Mike's tongue slipped more than he intended, "Freddy's didn't pay well. I told you about Freddy's, right? Freddy's didn't pay well and yet, somehow, I was still actually risking my life." This conversation changed by time Mike had his third drink. By now he was starting to feel it. Mike wouldn't consider himself a lightweight, but he would admit that he didn't drink much at all.

After a couple more hours of this he was feeling a definite buzz. Not drunk yet, thankfully, as he was sober enough to realize that he needed to stop.

"I think I need to pull back a little," he admitted and stared across the bar at the clock on the wall. He pretended that it wasn't budding intoxication that was obscuring his vision. "…Are those hands pointing anywhere near the upwards position, because if they are I'm going to need to take off."

Natalie raised a brow and looked back, "It's only eleven. I didn't think you had a curfew."

The man stood off of the bar stool, "I do. I got to get home and wind something." He stumbled over the bar at the foot of the barstool. It certainly made him look drunker, but he straightened himself quickly, "Before I get too messed up."

The woman stopped him with a hand on his arm, "Whoa, wait. You can't drive yourself. I'm taking you home." She paid for her own drink. "Geez, Mike, pace yourself much?" Mike wasn't feeling embarrassed. In fact, he wasn't feeling much of anything.

"It's been a while… A long, long while." He was able to walk himself out of the bar and made sure his car was locked, but then he collapsed in Natalie's passenger seat.

He was somehow able to mumble out the directions, though halfway there he got confused and sent them down the wrong road. Eventually they got to the house and Mike staggered out of the car. "Do you need me to walk you inside?"

Suddenly soberness hit the man out of nowhere and he found himself practically yelled, "No!" He then got himself somewhat under control. "No, no, just- I got it under control. Have a good night and I'll see you back at work." Natalie raised a brow as Mike made his way to the house in a stiff fashion, his light drunkenness triggering immediate paranoia.

It wasn't until Mike got inside the house and shut the door that he felt safe. He released an exhale of relief and awkwardly stumbled to the dining room table, dropping off his keys and phone. By time he turned back the Marionette had appeared.

"Oh, hey!" he greeted with a smile. "Hey, I'm back, right on time!... Whatever time it is. Hold on." He glanced around the kitchen for a clock, briefly forgetting that there wasn't a clock in the kitchen, and then shrugged it off. "Ah, it doesn't matter. How've you been?" The Puppet was completely dumbfounded at Mike's behavior.

"So before we get into anything, I'm just a little drunk," Mike explained, accentuating the 'little' just a little bit. "So I'm thinking that I'm just going to sleep this off, so you go get your box and I'm going to just go into the back to sleep this off." The Puppet slowly hovered back out of the room, watching Mike with a sort of uncertainty in his eyes alone. He headed into his bedroom, hearing Mike pass the door, and put away the mended plush toys into the bottom of his box. He then slid the sewing kit under the bed and grabbed the music box and headed down to the Master Bedroom.

Only to find that in the few minutes he had been gone, Mike had laid down on the bed and nodded off. He didn't seem completely unconscious, he knew he could probably rouse the human, but he didn't. Instead he inwardly sighed and dropped the music box onto the bedside table. He then folded the other half of the comforter over him, as Mike was laying on half of it. Then, finally, he decided to just sit at the foot of the bed; legs folded, hand holding head, and just watching Mike as he drifted into a deeper and deeper sleep.

As far as Marionette was concerned, Mike was a handful. He certainly got things done, took care of the house, and was a good socializer, but he managed to somehow continue to surprise the Puppet with one weird twist after another. That wasn't to say that it wasn't worth it. Regardless of how troublesome Mike was, Marionette had become rather fond of him rather quickly. He wasn't like his father had been at all. He hadn't actually ever met someone like Mike was, the closest thing was sort of like Bonnie on the Fredbear cartoon, the first season one of course.

Even now as he watched him, Mike fascinated him. He didn't mind just staring at him and wondering, and feeling like he wasn't alone. Those weeks after his father had left had been difficult as he had been alone without any warning. Of course, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but he stayed awake many nights anxiously waiting for him to come home… But he never did. That last day he had been afraid to let him leave the house as ill as he was, but was also wrapped in his usual excitement to have the house to himself for a while. The days that followed weren't as thrilling.

He felt a soft sensation on his porcelain face and gently dabbed it, pulling back his hand to look. As expected he had begun to cry again, which was odd since he didn't feel much of anything, barely any outpouring of emotions compared to before. The tears just managed to return once again. It made him feel like a child. For years he hadn't even known he could break down as horribly as he had on his last night in the Pizzeria. Just thinking of that alone sent chills through his body; Marionette still clearly remembered the moment when they were a working unit to when he was left behind.

And now his father was gone too, but there was still Mike. He had known something was wrong when Mike suddenly appeared, but it never crossed his mind that had he would never see his father again. It was in one moment, one horrible moment when the voice through the door said he was gone, and he knew there was nothing he could do. It was one thing if his father was in the hospital alive, if he was in the Pizzeria alive, if he could do something, but he couldn't. Marionette had felt this helpless to save someone before, but back then he had a mission to complete, and now he didn't.

He didn't want to think about it. He let the tears stop on their own; he was growing weary of crying so much. There was something different in the house now, something different in his life, and that was Mike. Mike was the thing that stood between Marionette and a lifetime of hiding in the warehouse. Mike was his only friend, the closest thing he had to a caretaker, and the only human adult that he knew other than his father that was trustworthy. To think that he had been a security guard. As bad as it seemed it wasn't the worst it had ever been, because he had Mike.

It was a blessing to wake in the morning and not know that there was someone nearby doing extensive pain and getting away with it. It was a blessing to have a human willing to protect and keep him hidden, even if he did have an unhealthy obsession with that Sam guy. Not even his father had heard him speak, he was too afraid to break his father's illusion of him having his past voice, and at the time it had slipped out so easily. Years of silence in a single slip, but it had felt so good, and it felt so great to be able to say something and be treated like a thinking, sentient being.

Because Marionette didn't look like a person, but that didn't mean that he didn't feel like one. That still didn't mean the Puppet wanted to talk to just anybody, but he did like being able to converse with Mike. Even if Mike clearly kept aiming the conversation towards the Pizzeria on purpose. He was going to have to try a little harder than that. As much as he liked and trusted Mike, he wasn't prepared to let that information just leak out under any circumstances. Some things just needed to be put to rest. Literally.

And for the most part Marionette had been satisfied. While he did his mission at Freddy's he didn't necessarily begrudge it, believing that the second chance was a lucky break, but that was before people starting dying around him so quickly. Everything was simply so much more confusing now. He checked his face again; the tears had already dried. Slowly he moved upwards to the opposite side of the bed, the side that was now barren of the comforter, and laid down on the white sheet. He made sure that he was at least an arm's length away from Mike.

Many, many years ago he could remember coming into this same bed and climbing in. Usually when he was scared. His father usually was none-the-wiser and most of the time he would wake first and hurry out. Maybe he wasn't that person anymore and maybe he wasn't scared, but he needed this just as much. He just laid there on the bed and waited for dawn to eventually come.

Because he would rather stay awake then sleep alone in that box. Not tonight.

* * *

When Mike awoke he knew that something was terribly wrong. He sat upwards in bed and stared across the master bedroom to the ajar door that led into the hallway. He was alone in the room, but something felt like it was wrong, like the entire house was different somehow. He got out of bed and headed into the hallway. "Hello?" Mike felt the need to speak, to hear something in response, but the house was an empty voice. All the lights were off except for the TV in the living room and he headed down the hall to it. The screen was alive with static.

"Huh…" Mike grabbed the remote and turned the television off. Then he looked into the kitchen; nothing out of the ordinary. He was eventually drawn back down the hall and to the Puppet's bedroom, opening the door. "Marionette?" There was a light on in the bedroom, a lamp on the bedside table that looked like the one from his own apartment, but the rest of the room was dim. Something drew him over to the box. "Mari?" he tapped on the outside and the flaps popped open, but revealed only a darkness inside. The man leaned in and squinted into the darkness, but could see nothing.

"I need my light," he knew he left it on the dining room table. He turned to leave the room, headed down through living room, and entered into the kitchen. He grabbed the flashlight when a cold feeling suddenly pierced his chest. Gray eyes dragged their way from the table and out the window which suddenly had the blinds raised. Down by his car stood a hulking figure that he could barely see beyond its glowing eyes. Mike eyed in in confusion, "Is that…?" Before the name could slip his lips the figure lunged at the front door and slammed into it.

Panic filled Mike and he dashed towards the hallway. Two steps into the hallway and suddenly the front door was broken down, slamming onto the carpeted floor. Mike looked back to see the mechanical monstrosity step inside. Its fabric exterior was hanging off of his metal skeleton, eyes wide with a bright white light, and mouth overfilled with sharp teeth. "Foxy…?" the former security guard hoarsely choked out. The animatronic answered with a shriek and thundered across the carpet. Foxy was always the fastest and Mike felt it now as he ran to the Puppet's bedroom.

He slammed the door and grabbed the bedside table, knocking over the lamp onto the floor. The table was shoved in front of the door, but Mike knew that it wouldn't hold long. The only thing keeping Foxy out was the likely chance that it wouldn't be able to grip the doorknob. He only had a few seconds before this door was on the floor too. He made a dash for the box and looked in, flicking on his flashlight to see. The box's darkness swallowed the light and revealed none of its secrets, leaving Mike with no answers at all. "What is this?!" His answer was a swift bang on the door.

The urge to climb into the box suddenly overtook him. Mike assumed that maybe it would, at least, hide him for a few minutes, and he stepped inside. His foot hit nothing and being that he was off-balance he plummeted into the darkness. He gave a yell and promptly slammed into the bottom of the box about ten feet down. The floor was cold and metal beneath him. In a haste he jammed his hands outwards and started to feel the surrounding area. To his right and left were cold walls, but there was empty space behind and in front of him. No plush toys, no Puppet, just darkness.

There was a bang from above from Foxy finally getting into the bedroom. While it went quiet right afterwards, Mike knew he had to keep going and started to crawl ahead. Soon the opening above was also replaced with a cold, low roof. Other than his own heartbeat pounding in his ears, Mike could hear nothing, and that actually scared him more than the foreboding noises Foxy should've been making. " _What the hell is this?! Why does the Puppet have a tunnel that goes under the house?!... Actually, this is going to make a lot of sense if it pops up outside."_

Then his hand brushed something, a flashlight. He knew that it was his own flashlight that somehow appeared down here. He grabbed it and flickered it on, revealing that he was in some sort of a vent. The second that the light began to flicker across the vent there came a scraping noise from behind him. Mike snapped his head back and shined the flashlight down the vent. Only a good ten feet away was Foxy, hunched down in the vent, trying to squeeze through the vent after him. Its mouth of sharp teeth stood out more than anything else.

Mike swore as he turned back and clambered down the vent. Foxy was at his ankles, only slowed by his bulk in the tight space. It didn't take long until Mike was faced with a grate and he partially turned himself to kick it out. It gave easily and Mike slid out the rest of the way into the room. It took less than a second for him to recognize the location. " _I'm in the Pizzeria? Wait, no, that can't be possible."_ A growl from Foxy alerted him to keep moving and he took off down the hall, past the restrooms and into the main dining hall. The stage was empty of animatronics.

" _It's just not possible. I went, what, thirty yards at max? Unless there's a warp portal underneath Fredrick's house, this shouldn't be happening."_ He dropped and slid under a table, pausing to catch his breath. " _Unless I'm dreaming."_ That thought lingered longer than Mike would've liked.  _"Wait, am I dreaming?... No, because I wouldn't be thinking, I wouldn't be this awake."_ There was a shuffling noise as he heard Foxy leaving the vent. He could only hope he was hidden under the table, because he knew if he entered the office he would be a sitting duck, and Foxy would know he was there.

He decided to quickly do the pinch test. He reached down and pinch his opposite arm to see if he would wake. He didn't rouse like one would expect, but, to his horror, he didn't feel the pinch. He pinched harder and harder, but felt no painful sensation. In fact, he soon realized that he couldn't feel anything he did to himself. Rubbing his arm brought nothing, pulling his hair was nothing, and as he thought about it harder he realized that his fall into the box was remarkably painless.  _"So… Am I asleep or not?"_ He couldn't remember anything prior to waking at the moment.

Then Foxy started by the tables and Mike was dragged out of his thoughts. Possible dream or not, he was in immediate danger. As the heavy footsteps passed, Mike held his breath and waited, watching as the animatronic stepped past the curtains into Pirate's Cove. He didn't trust this as him being in the clear and instead continued to stare out from under the tables. The others had to be by, or something else was lurking, but Foxy wouldn't have just left and it wouldn't have just suddenly been safe. Mike didn't dare to turn on the flashlight or even move.

That was, until a hook came slamming down through the table, right in front of Mike's face. It was accompanied by a shriek and Mike crawled out as Foxy, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, used his lodged hook to flip the table. Mike responded by grabbing a chair and throwing it right at the animatronic before bolting towards the office. He felt panic like never before as he approached one of the doors, suddenly finding himself atop a pool of fresh blood that was pouring out of the office. His foot hit the puddle and he promptly slammed into the tile, feeling nothing.

The blood was pouring out of the office from a limp animatronic sitting against the other door, which was closed. Mike stared into the empty eyes of Golden Freddy which stared back like the plush toy in its image. Blood soaked through its mouth and pooled around its legs. Before Mike could even think, Foxy was dashing down the hall, and he looked at the animatronic just in time to see it leap at him. "Foxy, wait!" It was a desperate beg for salvation, but Foxy couldn't be stopped, and-

Mike was in a parking lot. It was so sudden and jarring, leaving him feeling fuzzy and numb at the same time. Foxy was gone, the Pizzeria was gone, he was just standing in a parking lot. He quickly noticed that something was obscuring his vision, even if he couldn't feel it, and reached to his face. There was some sort of mask clinging to it and, upon feeling it, he guessed it was Foxy's image.  _"Am I Foxy?"_ he briefly asked, but then noticed the human hand.  _"No, wait, I'm fine…"_ He stared more intently at his hand. " _…Except that's not my hand."_

"I don't know. What if we get caught? We'll go to jail, right?"

A voice broke the silence and Mike turned around to see three others standing with him. They were maybe in their teens, Mike couldn't tell, but they looked to be on the younger side of the spectrum. Each wore a mask as well; one of Bonnie, one of Chica, and one of Freddy.

"We won't go to jail, we'll go to juvie," the Bonnie masked one explained directly to the Chica masked one. "That's only if we get caught, and who's going to care? Is anybody going to be upset after what happened? They'll get it."

Yet the Chica masked one still seemed concerned, "And how are we supposed to do it? This isn't like breaking a window. We're up against a giant robot."

The Bonnie one was becoming more frustrated, "Look, if you want to go home then go home. That thing did this and that thing is going to be what takes the fall!"

"Yeah, you say that now, but what happens if someone starts coming after us for what we did?!" the Chica one demanded, "What are we supposed to do then?!"

The Bonnie one argued back, "Hey, we were just playing around! That thing- It wasn't supposed to be able to move at all!"

It was now when the Freddy masked one stepped in. "Knock it off! Both of you! Someone's going to hear us and call the cops!" He then made sure they were quiet before looking towards Mike. "It's your decision. It was your brother after all."

There was a slight had no idea what was happening and couldn't even fathom an answer. He was trying to collect the patterns and understand, but his mind was slow. It took until that moment for him to actually recognize beyond the masks.  _"These are those kids that went missing. I'm… I'm Fredrick's kid, aren't I?"_

"Yeah. Let's do it." The voice came from himself but was not his own voice. It was a younger male, another teen, and it was firm with what it wanted to do. The teen moved forward towards the door by his own decision. Mike had little control over what the Foxy masked one did. He could move his arms slightly, he could move the eyes and the head just a bit, but the teen went through his own motions on his own. He approached the door to the closed Pizzeria and reached into his pocket, bringing out a ring of keys.  _"The Pizzeria… Looks more put together. Guess this really was a while back."_

He could only dread as they stepped into the empty Pizzeria. It smelled less dusty and moldy with a soft hint of pizza. The decorations were all put together, the tables were neat, but the sign of police tape blocking off the main dining hall made Mike cringe. The Foxy masked one crossed to the tape and stared into the dining hall. His eyes focused on a spot on the floor where Mike could see nothing. Though the whole room reeked of a heavy metallic odor that he knew was the scent of blood, covered with what smelled like heavy cleaners.

The teen began to breathe a little quicker and his pulse raced. Mike tried to fight past this and look in at the scene.  _"There's nothing here. What's he looking at?"_ Then a panicked thought passed by,  _"Oh no, what happened here?... The bite."_

Right as he thought this, the Bonnie mask passed underneath the tape. "I'll lead the way…"

The Freddy mask whispered after him, "Be careful. We don't need any more accidents. Let's just get to the stage." They started across the dining hall and Mike lingered.

"Are you coming?" the Chica one asked. "This… You don't have to do this."

Now the Freddy one chimed in, "Just wait outside and keep watch. We've got this."

The Foxy one shook his head, even though Mike himself wanted to leave. Part of him wanted to think that if he could coax the teen outside it could stop whatever was coming. He knew, whatever it was, it was coming fast. "Hey, it's gone!" the Bonnie one called back and the Freddy one huffed.

"They probably moved it. Well, that's great! Mission failed!" He looked around, "There's a storage room, right?"

A light suddenly shined down on the four of them. "Hey, what are you kids doing here?" The voice was weirdly distorted; not in a creepy way, but in a way that it didn't sound like a real voice. Though when they looked back and he expected a monster, he instead saw another security guard. The same uniform, the same badge, the same everything.

The man got a concerned look, "Oh… Hey guys." Apparently he knew them. "You know you guys can't be in here right now…"

The Foxy masked one was the one to speak, "Where did they take it?"

"Oh, uh… I really don't know. It might be in the back," the security guard glanced back down the hallway. "I haven't been here to see the damage." He then got a sympathetic look, "I heard about your brother. I'm so sorry. I thought- It doesn't matter." He shook his head solemnly.

"That- That thing should be gotten rid of!" the Bonnie masked kid suddenly voiced.

The Chica one nodded too, "Yeah! It's not fair…" Both the Freddy masked kid and Foxy masked one stayed silent, though the Foxy one stared at the Security Guard as he did so.

"I can't let you do that. First of all, your father would kill me, and the police would think I was destroying evidence. I'll walk you to the door, come on," he started to lead them into the front. The teens reluctantly followed him.

"This sucks, I was hoping we were actually going to do something for once," the Freddy masked one complained. "It's not like this place is opening anytime soon…" Mike was just glad that they were leaving, but at the door the security guard paused, then sighed.

"I'm not too happy about this either… Alright, we'll do this. I'll take you back to where they're keeping him. I'll tell the boss tomorrow that someone broke in and vandalized. Just don't break anything else." Mike had a bad feeling that something was terribly wrong. That alone feeling had returned, like all of these people weren't actually here and he was just standing in a dark Pizzeria alone. In fact, he knew that this was the case by now, he knew that he was actually entirely alone. The security guard passed by and guided them through the Pizzeria.

Mike wasn't sure where they were going. It looked like they were heading to a storage room, but he knew that there wasn't a storage room in the direction they were going. Suddenly they were at a door, which the security guard unlocked.

"He's being kept right in here," he explained as he opened the door. Then he slowly turned around and faced the Foxy masked one, and Mike, resting his hand on the doorframe. "Just hurry, okay?" The other three entered inside the doorway without a single word and soon the Foxy masked one started to enter as well.

Mike tried to fight back,  _"Hey, stop!"_ The boy didn't hear him or didn't listen. The storage room was pitch black and as cold as ice. It was only in the room that Mike suddenly realized he had control again. He could move, he could react, and he turned around to rush out. This time it was Mike's own self that stopped him as he saw what waited in the door. The security guard waited in the doorway, blocking off the path to freedom. His face had morphed into something disgusting; empty eyes and an obscenely stretched smile.

The once friendly Security Guard stepped into the storage room, the door slowly closing behind him, and the room went dark...

And Mike woke up.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Eight_

There was no greater relief than waking from a nightmare, knowing that it wasn't real and that all was safe. Unless you were Mike, who awoke more shaken than even and with a slight hangover nagging at his head. He laid there panting and sweating as he stared in the direction of the window. Sunlight was pouring in and signaled a normal day commencing outside. He wasn't trapped in a dark Pizzeria, Foxy was gone, and he was in total control of his body. He rubbed his face tiredly and tried to ignore how dried out his throat felt.

Something was pressed against the center of his back. It felt like it was some sort of fabric and he slowly looked back only to see the blanket folded awkwardly and a lump underneath it. He took the blanket and start to drag it back, stopping when it revealed a patch of black fabric. Clearly it was the Puppet, who for whatever reason was completely wrapped in the blanket, pressed into his back. Mike let the blanket drop into place again and rubbed his face tiredly, exhaling in relief. Everything was alright and everything was safe; the nightmare was over.

Mike started to climb out of bed, trying not to jostle the figure beside him, but then stumbled back a little. His body was weakened and weary, as though the sleep hadn't rested him at all. Though he supposed that it was probably from the hangover. He didn't think he had gotten that drunk, yet here he was, and he could only be grateful that it wasn't that bad. He got to his feet and crossed over to the dresser where he had some of his clothes lying out. He needed a shower before he did anything else and he was still wearing the clothes he went out in.

There was a shuffling on the bed and he looked back to see Marionette now looking out at him. It made no attempt to get out of the bed though, but stared at him with a wide smile. 

"What are you so happy about?" Mike hadn't meant for that to come out sounding so grumpy. Nor did he intend or expect his voice to come out so hoarse, but not once did he remember screaming inside or outside of the dream. Even short cries shouldn't have caused this; he finally decided that it had to be a side effect of the alcohol as well.

Marionette did seem to be particularly happy beyond the normal smile. He clutched the blanket closer to him and spoke, "Last night was the first night I slept without the music box." His voice chirped with delight.

Mike furrowed his brow, "Without the-… Oh." He clasped a hand over his face in frustration, "It's one thing I need to remember to do and I can't. I'm shocked you haven't 'fired' me yet." 

He didn't even know what he meant by that, but the puppet didn't seem bothered. "I slept just fine without it, so don't worry." He disappeared under the blankets and Mike finished grabbing his things. 

"Just don't get too attached. If you think I'm giving up the bed to go sleep on the couch, you've got another thing coming," he was mostly teasing, but there was a shred of truth in it. The Puppet merely chuckled at the comment and curled in a lump under the comforter. Mike continued out and to the shower. He felt a little better during the shower though not as much so once the shower was finished. Either way, he was clean and dressed in something new, then started his day.

There was a missed call on his cell phone that he noticed right away. It was Sam, as expected, and Mike got himself a drink of some strong coffee before he made an attempt to call back. 

After a few rings Sam answered, "Hello?" He sounded surprisingly rough and half awake. 

"Hey Sam, it's me. I saw your missed call so I was just checking in." 

Sam's voice was surprisingly meek over the phone, "Yeah, I was just… Calling to say that I got back last night… It was a late night." 

Mike's confusion turned to suspicion, then to concern. "You don't sound right. Is everything okay?"  


"…No, Mike, it isn't." Mike went alert at Sam's sudden drop from the false normal. 

He looked to the hall, "Was it the Puppet? Look, I was out all night, so if he did something- Did he do something?" To Mike's surprise and relief Sam shot the theory down.

"Nothing to do with the Puppet, it… Last night I headed over to Freddy's to move out the last of the animatronics. There's not a date on the destruction or anything, or what they're going to do, but I had to move them into the warehouse. When I got over there though… They were strange. They weren't, you know, on."

"I thought they didn't turn off," Mike pointed out. 

"They don't. Or they're not really supposed to. They weren't moving and I couldn't manually get them on. I had to move them out on a trolley into the van and move only a few at a time. Three of them moved fine, but then… They weren't all off." 

The former security guard inwardly cringed, "Which one was it?" He knew something had happened, something awful, and he had a feeling he knew the answer. His mind briefly reflected back on the nightmare and he grew terrified that it meant something more than just his own internal fears. Then Sam revealed it fully.

"It was Foxy."

Mike's heart dropped into his stomach. 

"I had already gotten Freddy and Chica into the warehouse, and then moved Bonnie into the van… But when I tried to move Foxy he woke and lashed out at me. He only got me by the shirt, but he chased me out of there. I was afraid he would follow me out so I turned on the headlights of the van to spook him. It worked and scared him back inside. I… I just locked everything and finished at the warehouse. I don't know what I'm going to do now. Foxy was violent, how am I supposed to tote him over to the warehouse?... Mike?... Are you there?"

By now Mike had stood and started to pace the floor. So the nightmare had meant something. He was chased by Foxy, the teenager had a Foxy mask, and now Foxy was awake at the Pizzeria. It all had to be connected. He didn't know if Sam would believe him, but before he could even explain something hit him even harder than the realization about Foxy. "Sam… I think the missing children were murdered by a security guard who was working the night shift." 

Sam sputtered on the line, "What?! Who told you that, the Puppet?!"

"No, it's a long story, but that's not all." Mike went through his dream further. "I… I think there was another storage room. I don't know what happened to it, but there was one there, and it might have evidence about what's going on…" He huffed and finally admitted, "I dreamt about Foxy. Maybe it sounds crazy, but I have no doubt that this is connected somehow. Look, just… I'm coming over to the warehouse. You don't have to go in with me, but I have to go into the Pizzeria and look for that spare room." He already knew something was looming behind him as he said this.

"…Okay, I'll meet you at the warehouse. I just have to call someone first," Sam finished and they ended the call. Mike waited patiently, staring forward into the living room, waiting for the other being in the room to say something. 

"Who told you about the room?" Marionette's voice was surprisingly flat and had just a tinge of aggression. He apparently didn't hear the entire conversation, but seemed like he was about ready to lose his temper. 

Mike decided that being blunt was the only outlet in this situation, "Dream people; it's a long story. I'm heading down to the Pizzeria."

"No, you're not," the Puppet firmly stated. "There's nothing down there. There's no room, there's no mystery, there's nothing worth looking for." 

Mike very eagerly called him out on the lie, "You just asked about 'the room', which means that there is a room." He looked back and, sure enough, the Marionette's face had changed to a look of frustration and… Panic? It was clearly there and this was why he probably kept the ongoing smile, because when he showed something he showed everything. There was definitely something being kept in that room.

"I won't be in there long. Look, you don't have to be involved-." Mike tried to convince the other, his tone dropping to a more reassuring one in an attempt to pacify. 

"I'm already involved!" Marionette spat back. The room filled with a few seconds of silence. "I'm asking you as a  _friend_ to not go down there," the animatronic finished in a much quieter tone, static playing with his voice. Mike didn't remember when they suddenly became friends, but it seemed like a good enough word to cover whatever it was that they were doing, especially now that he shared a bed with him.

Mike's response took longer just trying to ignore how wrong that thought sounded. He recovered well enough to counter, "I know… And this isn't about you or us. This is about me having to know what happened. This is about me knowing that for a moment I was a part of something bigger, something that nobody else was able to see, and not being able to go on without the answers." Mike's dramatic explanation was ended by Marionette's voice. 

"Then I have no choice…" For a second Mike had a slightly foreboding feeling, but it disappeared when the striped being moved in front of the door. "I can't let you leave," the Marionette announced. He crossed his arms as though to mock Mike and stared him down, clearly trying to sound firm. 

"That's cute," Mike patronized with as little care as he could. He moved closer towards the door, the Puppet slid closer against the door. "Come on, move, you throwing a tantrum isn't going to stop me." He grabbed the doorknob, Marionette grabbed his wrist, and then suddenly there was a tug of war. The Puppet clung to his back and Mike tried to wrestle the arms wrapped around his body. "Get off of me!"

That was when the wires appeared. They were a sudden addition that Mike didn't notice until he tried prying the Puppet off with the back of the couch. Three in particular caught his attention; one around his midsection, one around his chest and right arm, and the third wrapping around his left arm. It wasn't enough to have him frightened, but it kept Marionette stuck to him. The radio noise grew louder as Marionette struggled to hold Mike back, as Mike was clearly wanting him off. "You clinging to me isn't going to change my mind! I'll tote you over there if I have to!"

The Puppet seemed to ignore the threat, but was then shoved down onto the couch. The wires tightened as Mike tried to slide out of them. Then the animatronic was back on his back, Mike lost his balance and crashed to the floor, the wires tightened, and Mike found him suddenly in a much worse situation. He felt the wire that was once around his arm slide firmly around his neck. Again he was getting choked and, even though this one didn't look as intentional, he found himself in a direr spot. He was too stubborn to give in and instead tried to actually strike the Puppet to get him off.

The animatronic knew what it was doing. As light as it was, it eagerly pinned him down, tightening its grip as the former security guard's efforts became more desperate. Then the panic suddenly set in. Mike hadn't been afraid, he hadn't worried about his life, but suddenly the adrenaline kicked in and his heart thumped in his ears. The urge to breathe past the choking wire grew more intense as his right hand stopped its attempt at the Puppet and went to his neck, clawing at the wire. He choked against the bind, trying to get in a gasp of air past the pressure.

Then there was a different gasp and suddenly the wires unraveled and seemingly vanished. Mike was released, catching himself to keep himself from falling forward, and the Puppet moved back, or fell back against the back of the couch. He was in shock and stared at the human to see if he was alright. He had truly meant to just suppress Mike, to stop him from going back to that place, and hadn't intended to hurt him. In fact, that was why he was so determined on holding him firm instead of doing anything more drastic. He couldn't feel the wires; he hadn't known that they had slipped so close…

Now Marionette was the one horrified at his own actions. Mike managed to get his heartrate down and get himself under control. Then he started to stand, saying nothing at all.

"Wait, I didn't- I didn't mean to," Marionette insisted, raising himself as well. "Please don't go." He couldn't even look at the other, though it was mostly because he didn't want to increase the panic to something worse. Mike knew what this feeling was and tried to fight it back. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," Marionette insisted, his voice more somber. Mike started towards the front door.

"Please, Mike, please don't go. I would  _never_ hurt you. I… I made a mistake." He was starting to plead, "I was just so afraid that you were going back there…" Mike was acting strangely and he grasped his wrist to stop him. Mike glanced to him for only a second; this was the only time that the Puppet ever saw him look afraid. It was jarring enough that he released his arm and watched, unable to do anything, as Mike slipped out the door. Then Mike was out the door and hurrying to the car. He needed some distance, he had to get away for a second, and he tried to remedy himself by reminding that it wasn't his fault.

What was his fault was that he left his keys, which he realized the second he sat down in the car. He groaned and took a few minutes to cool down, fighting back his migraine and any panic still lingering. The last thing he wanted was to go back inside and fall into another attack, especially in front of the Puppet. He didn't want anyone to know that he still had them after Freddy's, even after all these years. The sensation started to pass after a couple of minutes and Mike pulled himself together enough to get out of the car, head back to the door, and step inside with as much confidence as he could muster.

Marionette was now sitting on the floor behind the couch, but rose quickly when he saw Mike enter. "You didn't leave?" 

"I left my keys," Mike flatly replied to show his continued frustration. He went into the dining room to grab them off the table and the Puppet followed him. 

"Are… Are you coming back?" There was fear in his voice. The same fear Marionette had the last time he thought that Mike was planning on leaving, the same amount of dread, and suddenly Mike calmed just a little. But he couldn't just let something like this go entirely.

He practically strangled him  _again;_ unintentional or not it was a serious manner. "I don't know. Maybe in a couple of days. I think we need time to cool down." If he thought this would sate Marionette, then he had another thing coming. 

Marionette started to become much more frantic, "Please, Mike, I'm sorry, I promise you that I won't ever touch you again,  _I promise,_ just don't- please- don't go. Don't leave me alone here." He was laying on the guilt heavily, but Mike couldn't tell if it was sincere or a sort of manipulation brought on simply by the threat of him leaving.

He made up his mind and headed back towards the door, determined to do this, while the Puppet came undone. Marionette knew he had to say something, that he only had one last chance before he was alone again, and he couldn't stand another day of that. It then clicked what he had to do. He didn't want to, but he did, and as Mike opened the door Marionette forced out the words that he didn't want to speak. 

"I'll tell you everything." They literally hurt to say, bitterly slipping out of him without any control. He under no circumstances wanted to bring these things up again, but he had to.

Mike stopped what he was doing, "…What?" 

The Puppet knew he sealed his own fate; Mike was interested, so there was no turning back. "I'll tell you about everything. That's more than you could ever find back there." He couldn't look as Mike slowly entered again, looking rather surprised as he shut the door back. 

"You're serious about this?" Mike asked and Marionette nodded silently. They then stood there for a few moments. It was Mike who initiated the conversation further.

"I'm not going to put you under a vice for answers over this. Maybe… We got carried away, and that's why some separation might be good. I'm not going to be gone forever." Like earlier, he was interrupted before he could say more.

"I don't know that…" Marionette began to fidget and move around the room aimlessly. "Especially if you're so determined to go there. You don't know what it's like to know…" He had trouble getting started, like his body didn't want him to continue, but Marionette would continue if it meant Mike staying, even if it just stalled him.

"Where do I even start?" he chuckled dryly and clutched his head, tightening his grip on porcelain and fabric. "It's been so long; I don't even know where I'm supposed to start." He cut off, stopping himself before saying that he didn't think he could do it. 

"…Just start with you," Mike instructed, because at the moment this was the subject that he was focused on. He felt like he was using emotional blackmail, but was under the impression that there wasn't any other way at this point. He was going to talk, so Mike would listen, and then Mike would do whatever felt right.

"You already know that I wasn't always like this, Mike. I know that you already know," Marionette quietly spoke as circled the back of the couch, the human moving to sit down.

"I had a feeling. The pictures and all, and Fredrick keeping you here." There weren't too many pictures of course, but the one that was there, with the family and the golden bear, was all he needed. 

"I was human too once. A long, long time ago. I lived here with my father, with my family, and I… I won't lie and say I was happy, I wasn't happy, but I was alive." Marionette dipped back and forth from telling his story to babbling it. "…And you asked me about Fredbear, so I'm assuming you already know about the bite." 

Mike gave a slow nod, "Yeah… Fredbear bit you, right?" 

The Puppet chuckled again, a bit more strained this time. "You could say that. It was a group effort, I assure you… I hated the Pizzeria back then. I saw things happening there and I knew disaster was coming."

"What sort of things?" Marionette stopped in front of the couch, the finally lowered to sit on the floor in front of it. 

"I… I really don't want to say… You're smart, Mike. You'll figure it out on your own." He pulled his knees closer to his chest and rested his head on them. "This is good. I feel pathetic, but I can say something. I couldn't really say anything then… Then I literally couldn't speak at all after the bite. I don't remember much between the bite and what came after, but I know that I was alive for a short while before I became this."

"Wait, so… You just became this? No stuffing in suits or anything?" Mike was baffled. 

Marionette looked amused, "Oh, it's good that you mentioned that. That's an excellent segue." He paused for a moment and Mike tried to resist the urge to prod, to get him talking faster than he was. "But no, I was just like this. When I was first-…- like this, I wasn't like I am now. I was bound by certain programming rules, I had trouble seeing things as they were, and I couldn't speak, but I stayed at Freddy's and I did what I was supposed to." His more upbeat tone changed once more.

"…And then one night I noticed that some kids had stayed after hours. I tried to appease to them, I was the only one awake at the time- I mentioned that my perception was wrong, right?- But I eventually noticed that I recognized them. One of them was my older brother, who I hadn't seen since the accident. I couldn't tell you how much time had passed; I really can't remember. Then I noticed that they were dead, so I put them in the suits to give them life again." 

Mike blinked, baffled at how suddenly the drawn out explanation dropped that sentence, "What?"

"But it worked! After that time-." 

He was interrupted by Mike, "Wait, hold on. You just-  _You_ were sticking children into suits?" He thought that the murderer had been doing it to hide the bodies. 

"Yes, but they were already gone," Marionette casually offered. 

"So you just saw some dead kids and thought, 'hey, yeah, let me just stick these guys into Freddy and the gang'? You said that you just became like this, where the hell did this thought process come from?" The Puppet continued to speak as though this, out of everything else, was the most natural part of the story. " _Perception got better my ass,"_ Mike thought in retort. 

"I had a feeling it would work, and it did. There wasn't really much doubt. After all, it worked for Gol- Hah…" He abruptly cut of, anxiousness suddenly slipping onto his face. "It… It worked before, I knew it worked before… Besides, restless souls will cling onto whatever form they can if it means they can live again." 

Naturally, Mike clung to what he was given. "Worked for who?" There was a moment of silence and he noticed that Marionette turned his head so he couldn't see his face; he was learning that it was best not to let Mike look.

"Nobody in particular, just an old friend of mine! We go back some ways. Anyway, where was I?... So they came to life again and we stayed in Freddy's, trying to protect and entertain children." Finally, he managed to get himself together and looked back, now giving his default smile. "But you already know that something dark was hunting there. I won't beat around the bush." 

Mike scoffed a little, "You're already beating around the bush… All around the mulberry bush." He couldn't resist quoting it, as it was too ironic. The sudden chime of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' caused Mike to flinch back. Marionette managed to get himself under control. 

"Sorry, sorry! I get a little overexcited," he fought down the chime with an amused chuckle. Upon seeing Mike's still alarmed look, he seemed to grow even more amused. "It was just a little music. I could've grown teeth, spun my head around, and started hiding under beds; music is harmless." 

He was joking, but Mike firmly stated, "If you  _ever_ do any of that, I'm gone. End of story." Unlike the threat of leaving earlier, Marionette understood it was a joke and stayed in good enough humor.

Then the tone darkened once again. "So… Who was the one who was doing it? You know… That guy who killed the kids." Marionette looked forwards again. It seemed for a moment that he actually wasn't going to say anything more. Mike wasn't going to pry him to go any quicker as he had enough to digest as it was. He didn't need to rush him any quicker. 

The animatronic eventually continued. "He was always there... He never stopped, he always came back. He was always waiting, watching, he turned my father's restaurant into a graveyard." There was anger on his voice. Not like the frustration, not even like his behavior earlier, but a pure hatred that revealed itself. "He was dyed in purple. It stained his skin, his face, and his smile. It was awful. He was awful. People feared us when he was there in plain silent… He was a monster." 

Mike gave a slow nod, "He sounds like it. Anyone who's going to kill a bunch of kids…" He cut off as he thought of the dream from the night before. The distorted face of the man with the altered voice seemed stuck in his head. It was disturbing, but a tease to know that he hadn't seen enough to identify him.

"But it's okay," the smile was there, but it was covered in a dark tone. "We can't save them. We can't stop what happened… But it's over now. He won't be hurting anyone else." There was a slightly sadistic chuckle, but it sounded extremely forced, like a way of self-comfort. 

Mike considered whether he wanted to know more on the subject, "So he's not around anymore?" Marionette shook his head in response, falling silent. "Sounds like a good thing to me. I prefer it to knowing he's still running around creeping on kids," Mike honestly answered.

After all, it was the fact that he believed the killer was still at large that helped drive him for answers. If he wasn't a threat then it made everything less urgent. It still didn't make him any less curious. 

"And he was a security guard, right?" There was a nod in response. Somehow the Puppet suddenly decided to shut down. Mike reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay, Mari?" The Puppet suddenly tensed at the sentence. There was obvious surprise and he looked back at the human. Mike raised a brow, "You don't have a problem with me calling you that, right?"

"No, I like it… It just took me off guard," Marionette smiled at Mike. "So after hearing all of that, are you reconsidering your current situation, yet? I wouldn't blame you if now is when you decided to run." 

The former security guard shrugged it off, "I'm already in too deep… Wait…" He paused for a moment, looking away, and then glanced back. "Sam said something strange on the phone. You told me a lot already, but you wouldn't mind answering one more, would you?" 

The Puppet smiled at him, "Ask away! There's certainly much more I cut out, but it wasn't as important."

It seemed like Marionette recovered, so Mike wasn't afraid to ask. "Sam went over to the Pizzeria to move the… 'Others' out and into the warehouse." He didn't know if calling them just 'animatronics' would be offensive somehow. "Apparently they're not running like they usually do. Or, you know, not attacking any adult that comes within a few feet. You know what's going on?" 

The Puppet stared blankly, then meekly answered, "I don't really want to talk about that…" 

Mike blinked, "But… Okay, that's fine. Could you at least tell me why Foxy's up and moving around?"

Marionette's head suddenly rose to alertness and he looked back to Mike. "...Foxy?" 

He rose off of the floor, standing, or hovering, at full height. Mike followed his gaze and then continued, "I thought you heard the whole phone call. Sam said that Foxy attacked him, which means he was acting normal, but the others were-." And suddenly he was just gone. "Mari?" Mike called out in confusion, thinking that Marionette had just teleported to another part of the house. He then checked his room, the master bedroom, the bathroom, and soon realized that he wasn't in the house.

Now something beyond panic clutched ahold as Mike swore and grabbed his keys again, taking out of the house. He had a feeling that he knew where Marionette had gone, and he wasn't going to wait around there without finding out.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Nine_

Mike sped over to the warehouse as fast as he could, considering that it had decided to now start pouring rain. Someone else would consider it a foreboding sign, but Mike just considered it a nescience. He pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse and hurried inside. Either Marionette was here or he was at the Pizzeria, but he would rather make sure that Sam wasn't currently at risk. Not that he though the Puppet would be that aggressive towards him, but he wouldn't doubt something strange happening regardless.

He found Sam in the office, "I'm here. Sorry about- Whoa. Foxy did a number on you."

Sam looked rough, with a busted lip and a bruise on his forehead. He looked to Mike with a slight smirk, "I wish, it would've been less embarrassing. I just tripped coming out, when Foxy had his hook down the back of my shirt." The former security guard didn't like the sound of it still.

"You're not going to believe this. Long story short, Marionette started talking and- Who are you?" Somehow he suddenly noticed the shorter man standing off to the side. He was a little anxious looking.

"Mike, this is Jeremy Fitzgerald. He was a security guard here too. I think I mentioned him," Fritz introduced.

"Yeah, you did. Mike Schmidt," he introduced and held out his hand. Jeremy shook it without a hesitation. "Sorry about that. I'm just a little hung over." He exhaled and briefly rubbed over his blue-grey eyes to suppress the slight redness, "It was a pretty rough night."

Jeremy choked and sputtered out, "You're- You're not still doing night shift, right? I thought that this was sort of an isolated thing." He seemed quite a bit more fearful than Mike expected. Regardless, he looked about Sam's age, which would make Mike the youngest of the group and ironically the only one who didn't look terrified.

"No, no. Don't worry, Jeremy. I was at the Pizzeria alone. Mike was just out getting wasted," Fritz assured.

Mike rolled his eyes at the accusation, "It was my first time in a while, I- This isn't important." He raised his hands, silenced the others, and announced. "So, yeah… The killer of the kids was one of us…. By which I mean he was a security guard just like we were, not that he's actually one of us." He found himself mentally scolding himself for botching the delivery on the reveal. Sam and Jeremy seemed to still be alarmed by the remark.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked in near disbelief. "But that doesn't make sense. How did nobody catch him?"

For a second Mike hesitated, "I… I still don't know about that… I don't know. He was covering himself somehow, but Marionette was sure he was the one doing it." Mike suddenly realized that Marionette had skipped a lot more than he realized at the time. That being thought, he had enough of an idea that he knew where to go.

Jeremy looked horrified, "I thought the Marionette was destroyed with the rest of the toy animatronics."

"Eh. This wouldn't be the first time that Freddy's let something slip by. Case and point; multiple dead children," Mike responded. Jeremy seemed to go pale at the comment.

Sam simply stared at the desk, "So, uh… Is this why the animatronics are attacking security guards?" That comment seemed to sink it into Mike's realization too.

"It would make sense. That doesn't make Foxy any safer. I have to head over there anyway though, Marionette might be over there." 'Might' was an understatement, of course, but he was determined to do it.

"I'll go with you. I… I got to try and move Foxy out. Do you think he'll be able to control him enough that we can get him in the van or…? Or we'll just see when we get there." Sam then grabbed a couple of flashlights out of his drawer and offered a few to the others.

Jeremy gladly took one, "If you don't mind, I'll stay in the van."

Sam raised a brow, "Uh… You know Bonnie's still in the back of the van."

Jeremy now looked to Mike, "Please tell me you have a car." Mike flashed his keys in response and they were on their way.

Once driving towards the Pizzeria, Mike attempted to make conversation with Jeremy. He seemed rather flighty towards the entire situation and he hoped it would help. "So… You and Sam worked around the same time?"

Jeremy gave a curt nod, clutching the flashlight in his hand. "We did, I think. I remember seeing a guy name Fritz then. I don't remember his name being Sam though." Mike couldn't resist a light snicker. They were quiet for a few moments before Jeremy asked, "Sam said you went back more than once." There was a questioning in his voice.

"I did. I needed the money…" he then smirked and playfully added, "Or maybe I just needed the thrill." Jeremy just stared at him with aghast, so Mike corrected, "Mostly the money." He looked forwards at the road, staring through the rain.

A few moments passed before Jeremy murmured, "And you've been talking to the Marionette. How did you even…?"

He certainly seemed baffled and Mike gave a nod. "Let's just say he came with the package… This might not be appropriate, but were any of the security guards working with you at the time- did any of them act weird?"

Jeremy shrugged a little, "I was really working alone. I didn't know anyone except the guy who hired me… And that guy on the phone." Mike shivered a bit, "Yeah, same with me and I knew him too… He had a bad night."

The older male looked to him in horror, "Oh geez… And I guess he just went missing, right? Boy, I'll tell you, Freddy's cleaning policy. A kid could scrape their knee at they would be there with bleach and a disclosure agreement." This seemed to bring a new idea to Mike who furrowed his brows.

"Yeah. Fredrick was good at covering any evidence… And I want to believe it was because of his kids, because he wanted to protect the animatronics, but… I don't know, something just doesn't add up." He glared out the window and for a second. Then he lightly chuckled and morbidly commented, "The murderer must have been one hell of a worker if Fredrick was covering for him." A few seconds passed. "You… Don't think that Fredrick did it, do you? Maybe the kids weren't murdered, maybe they were accidently killed?"

Normally the thought of negligence and covering it would make perfect sense. It would explain why Fredrick covered it, it would still be an unintentional murder, and the treatment of the bodies could lead to angry spirits… Except that Marionette bluntly said that somebody killed the children, that it was a security guard, and Mike wasn't under the impression that the animatronic would be mistaken. He might have thought and reacted differently than a human would, but Mike doubted that he would confuse something like this.

"No. I don't think spirits would be this restless over an accident… And I don't think, poor management or not, that kids would keep dying."

Jeremy nodded slowly in agreement. "You've got a point… I guess it was just wishful thinking."

The two fell silent until they arrived at the Pizzeria. Not an uncomfortable silence, but a heavy, ominous one. They didn't have to say anything, they both had a bad feeling about what they were walking into. They made it to the Pizzeria and Mike stepped out of the car, then leaned in to speak to Jeremy, "Hey, you sure you don't want to come?"

Jeremy stared down at the flashlight in his hand, "No… But I will." He sounded defeated as he climbed out.

"Thanks," Mike replied simply and the two headed to the front. He had a sense of security from more of them going in, even though he knew there was a possibility that it wouldn't change anything. The Pizzeria was just as dilapidated as Mike remembered and as he, Jeremy, and Sam who had just arrived stepped in they were met with silence. Mike beckoned them and made a line straight for the security office, which was in the same state as he had left it.

The desk was littered with various items, the fan, the tape player, an empty soda can; a variety of unimportant things. The electricity seemed to be off as Mike tried the lights. "Well, the doors aren't going to save us if something goes wrong," he pointed out.

Sam quickly volunteered, "I can put turn on the lower system. It won't light everything, but it'll put some electricity to the office, just limited. You get the drill; we'll have to keep an eye on the power."

He stepped out of the office, soon followed by Jeremy. "Yeah, I'll just come with you… Mike?"

"You two go ahead. I'm going to go poke around," Mike spoke with a sort of distant look. His mind was somewhere else.

"Alright, just remember that the guy who goes alone always dies first," Sam pointed out.

Mike watched him leave, "Thanks for the encouragement, Fritz." Once they were out of view, he flicked on his tiny flashlight and stepped into the hall, shining it around before heading towards the dining hall. His eyes looked over the walls and ceiling; everything looked worse than it had been. The water damage was worse and a moldy smell seemed to overtake the air.

It didn't take long for him to suddenly be stopped by sight of something in the dining room. It was Marionette, who was not very visible in the dark building. He stood in front of the Pirate's Cove, staring at the moldy curtain with a blank smile, unmoving. Mike huffed and started to head over towards him. Hearing him, the Puppet turned abruptly and faced him, emanating a radio noise as a white light dotted his eyes. It only took a moment before the noise and light halted, the animatronic recognizing the human and calming down. "Mike…"

"So it's okay for you come over, but if I make an attempt I get tackled?" Mike asked with firm disappointment. Disappointment covered concern well enough.

Marionette made a noise like a sigh, "I had to see for myself…"

Mike's eyes darted to the curtain to make sure the animatronic from his nightmares didn't suddenly spring out. "Is he…?" The black and white animatronic let down his guard fully, moving to rub his upper arms in slow movements.

"He's here. I couldn't face him, but that's him. I don't understand… Why him? Why not everyone else?"

"Why  _not_ everyone else?" Mike questioned as he looked to Marionette, watching the curtain out of the corner of his eye. The Puppet didn't respond to this question. He simply stood there looking uncomfortable. While Mike didn't want to walk in front of the curtain, he did, and approached the striped male. He reached out to pat his back, looking back at the curtain as he did so. "This is a good thing, right? I mean, it's Foxy, but Foxy was always a fan favorite." Right after this there was the sound of something turning on throughout the Pizzeria.

A few lights came on, what sounded like a ventilation system kicked on, and Marionette straightened in concern. "Someone else is here…" Overprotectiveness set in along with the threatening sounding comment.

Mike felt the need to calm him, "Don't worry about it. It's just Sam."

He regretted saying it afterwards as Marionette sent him this look comprising of absolutely no smile and an unimpressed and flat overtone. "Of course it is."

Mike started back to the office, wanting to get away from Pirate's Cove before Foxy was fully alerted. He stared at the puddles forming on the floor as he passed, getting déjà vu from his nightmare and being careful not to slip. Sam and Jeremy were already back in the office; Jeremy was sitting in the office chair while Sam was looking over the tape player. "I think Foxy's behind his curtain. Maybe because it's daytime."

Jeremy looked to him before his eyes went as wide as saucers. He gasped in alarm and jolted back slightly in the office chair, it squeaking at the shift in movement. Mike could see him staring past him and glanced out the corner of his eye to see the Puppet had followed.

"Oh, right. Surprise," he unenthusiastically remarked. "Don't worry, he's not going to do anything." He double checked and looked back to make sure the animatronic wasn't going to suddenly spring. Instead, Marionette was in what Mike considered was his 'default' pose; standing still, barely hovering, same unexpressive smile. Mike had come to recognize this standard look and quipped, "Literally, he's not going to do anything  _at all._ "

He noticed Sam seemed much too interested in the tapes and headed over, "Those are probably the old calls."

"Yeah, they're labelled. Day four was it, right?" he was vague, but Mike understood what it meant. He gave a nod and watched as Sam popped the tape in. There was a slight discomfort at knowing what he was about to listen to, but he had listened to it countless times before. There had been a period of time where he found himself listening to those tapes constantly, like a sort of therapy, but he hadn't touched them since. He didn't really even want to listen now, but he supposed that Sam and Jeremy had a right to hear and know. The tape player came on and the familiar voice echoed out.

" _Hello, hello! Hey. Hey wow, day four. I knew you could do it, uh…"_

There was a growing static from the Marionette and Mike adjusted his hat patiently, more focused on his own growing discomfort. 

_"Hey listen… I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow…"_

The phone call was interrupted by the sound of banging over the tape. Mike couldn't stand it, he turned away to face the Puppet. By time he uncovered his eyes, he noticed that the Puppet was having a very bizarre reaction. He was twitching, static still audible, and now looked a bit more frustrated.

Mike moved closer, "What's up?" Anything was better than acknowledging the tape.  _"_

_It's been a bad night here for me."_

Marionette double checked made sure Sam and Jeremy weren't looking at him. They weren't, perhaps both trying not to look at him, and he moved closer to Mike. He kept his voice extremely low, "I can't listen to  _him._ Tell them to shut it off. I can't." Mike didn't even know how to take this sentence. Apparently he had an issue with the Phone Guy, maybe it was because he was a security guard, or Mike hoped, and the tape was upsetting him.

Maybe he was biased, but Mike felt nothing wrong with going along and shutting the tape off. "Maybe we need to shut that off. Foxy's going to hear us and come in here." Sam looked to Mike and seemed to suddenly catch something on his face. It wasn't the Puppet; he had managed to pull himself back into his usual façade.

It was the disturbance that Mike couldn't hide that Sam caught, and he didn't argue. "We can listen to these later. I'll take them back to the warehouse, so we'll just listen there."

Jeremy looked a little confused, "Really? Uh, okay, sure."

" _Umm… I'm kind of glad that I-."_

The tape was shut off and they stood in the office. There was the sound of footsteps from somewhere else in the building.

"Well, there comes Foxy," Sam remarked and peered out of the other door with his flashlight. Mike looked back to the desk, over the things that had been sitting there since before he was there, and his eyes landed on something in the back. "Hey, look whose here; Bonnie!" He smiled, he hoped it didn't look as forced as it felt, and he plucked the dust covered plush from its post and presented it to nobody in particular. "I remember this guy. I bought him out of the stock to keep me company at night. I can't believe I left him behind."

He chuckled and looked over the toy, getting a nervous smile out of Jeremy. "Oh, I remember those. Yeah, there was a ton of them. I probably have a few back at my place somewhere."

Mike looked to the plush and looked out of the corner of his eyes in Marionette's direction; he remembered his weakness.  _"I think I could get him to move if I just…"_ He held out the plush, "Here, you want him? He doesn't deserve to get stuck with me again."

The Puppet didn't budge, mostly because Jeremy was staring, and Mike decided to nudge further. "I guess he is pretty old and dusty… Eh, it was worth a try." He loosened his grip just a bit, released one finger at a time, and finally let the plush drop. He felt something lightly brush his leg and, as expected, the Bonnie didn't even touch the ground. He sent a playful smile towards Marionette, "Sorry about that. You know how weak my grip gets." Marionette gave no facial change, but was now clutching the Bonnie plush to his chest. He then turned around and took his leave through the door.

"Come back, I was just playing around," Mike called after him, still quite amused, and looked to Jeremy. The male in the office chair was now much further back than he was a few moments ago.

There was a loud clanging noise as Sam shut the door he was standing in front of. "Foxy's definitely out and about. I just heard him in… Maybe the kitchen? I don't know, he's right over that way somewhere." He gestured out in a random direction. "But first thing's first. If you want to check out that sealed room we should probably do it now, before Foxy turns aggressive."

Mike seemed surprised by him mentioning it again, "You found something?"

Sam nodded, then shrugged, and finally responded, "I just took a look at the blueprints and realized, by the shape of the restaurant and the rooms, that there is a spot by the bathrooms that's unaccounted for… There's no reason that they would've had a spot that big without a supply closet or something." This was their next lead and even Sam was willing to set aside his job to look in.

"Then we'll head over there. Keep an eye out for Foxy; maybe if we keep a distance he won't immediately attack."

Actually, Mike's unvoiced plan was that the Puppet would keep Foxy distracted, and while he said nothing to Marionette about it he trusted he would do so. They stepped out of the office and headed down towards the bathroom hallway. At the end of the hall was definitely something suspicion. Part of the wall seemed to be broken through, or possibly eroded, and a small, dark hole remained. It was only a couple of feet high and maybe one or two wide; not too big, but wide enough for any of the three to slide through. Same shined his flashlight into it.

"Yeah, this is it. This is some sort of storage room," Sam pointed out. He then raised his arm towards his face, flinching visibly, "I don't even want to know what that smell is."

Mike crouched down beside him, "That's the smell of Freddy's. I'm shocked you're not used to it yet." But even Mike was taken aback by the scent. It was a foul decaying odor that carried the metallic tinge of blood and a heavy overtone of rot.

He scowled and looked back to see Jeremy looking ill, "Everything good?" Sam also looked back, looking concerned towards the male, "Jere, if you don't want to come you don't have to."

"I can't," Jeremy blurted out, "Just… Sorry, I can't go in that- that hole." He stared at the dark space beyond the flashlight's reach. "I-I think I need some air."

He started to quicken his breathing and Mike immediately stepped in. "Just try to calm down. Here, take my keys and go sit in the car, okay? That was the plan anyway. You don't have to follow us inside. It's probably best that one of us doesn't get completely disgusting." Jeremy seemed relieved as he took the keys and took off. There wasn't any more noises for him, so Mike and Sam assumed that he got out fine.

"I'll go in first," Mike volunteered as he started to climb through the hole. The wall was surprisingly soft and seemed to be disintegrating under the slightest touch. Once on the other side he looked around; there were some things left behind, a locked box, a section of roof that had fallen in and let rain spill through, though didn't illuminate the room well, and lastly was something he had not expected to see, an animatronic. It sat on the floor, slumped like Golden Freddy did, but looked to be a rabbit.

"Damn…" Mike gasped and immediately covered his mouth and nose. The pungent scent was overwhelming.

"What?" Sam asked as he crouched and stepped into the sealed room, not yet getting a chance to look around.

"There's some sort of old Bonnie in here," Mike answered back. "Old as dirt and smells like death." He moved a step closer and studied it with his light. Its body was shaped oddly with a thicker and more rounded look to it than a normal animatronic. Its head, as well, was large and sported a gaping set of teeth. Something pink was sticking out of the holes on its legs, but Mike was distracted when Sam spoke.

"Looks like they were hiding something here…" The technician crouched in front of the locked box and tried the locks. They were stuck tighter than he expected, but he brought out a jack knife and tried to work on one.

"I'm going to take a guess and say that any key is probably missing," Mike added in as he stood beside Sam and stared down. The first lock opened and suddenly Mike was more interested, bending over and staring at the box. "Sam, do you know what this could be? This could be the answer to  _everything._ The Freddy's version of Pandora's Box. This could change everything."

"I know…" Sam quietly murmured as he fidgeted with the lock. "But… Are you sure you want to know?"

There was a clanging noise and Mike looked towards the hole in the hall. "Probably just Foxy, keep going."

Sam did, but he murmured back, "Foxy's still dangerous."

Mike responded with a quip, "So is Mari. Best case scenario, the two duke it out, wear themselves out, and we can get them out of here without a hassle. We'll probably have to move rotten-tail rabbit too." Sam groaned at the thought and finally got the lock unopened. There was a low groan from somewhere, drowned by the squeak of the opening box.

Mike expected to see something, but saw nothing more than a few scraps of paper.

"…What?" He grabbed the few pages into his hands, reading part of one. "Would it not be easily possible to employ some of them in quick laboratory experiments to indicate the influence of various types of fertilizer on plant growth? What is this?! This- This is just some sort of passage out of a book!"

Sam lifted one of the clippings and read it out loud as well. "The scientist seldom knows contemporaneous reward; it is enough to possess the joy of crea… I think it's creation. Something brown's splotching it."

"This is it…" Mike muttered with wide eyes, dropping the papers down into the box again. "This is what was hidden in the room, just quotes. Quotes that don't mean anything to us. How-… How can this be?" He was completely devastated. "It's a locked, empty box…"

Sam felt the bottom of the box and hummed a bit, "Maybe there's a false bottom. There's still a chance."

Mike dropped his head and groaned, "I can't even- Is this some sort of joke!? Who would lock a box with nothing in it?!" He huffed angrily. Quietness overtook the room afterwards.

"I just thought-..." Mike began and trailed off after a second, standing slowly and taking off his hat to rub a hand through his hair in frustration. He didn't know why he was so annoyed, but he had thought there was going to be some big reveal. Instead, there was nothing at all, "I don't know what I thought. I don't even know what I'm doing here…"

The room creaked and the sound of rain nearly drowned anything else out. Here he was, standing in a rotting, empty room, angry that a box of papers didn't answer some sort of big question. This was the first time in a long time that Mike truly felt like a failure.

"Mike!" Mike was alerted by Marionette's voice and looked to see him through the hole in the wall. There was a moment when he saw his face and saw nothing but terror in his face. The he heard the sound of quick, heavy footsteps from right beside him. He looked over just in time to see a hulking figure coming at him. He stared into its eyes as it was suddenly upon him.

He really had opened Pandora's Box. All the evil in the world seemed to paint the rabbit's face.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Ten_

The Golden Bonnie animatronic tried its hardest to throw itself at Mike. It was only out of reflex that Mike raised his hands to push it away. The animatronic grabbed one of his hands, tightening its strong grip and then reaching out with another hand to grab his opposite shoulder. In a smooth motion it turned its body and threw Mike to the floor heavily. Its strength was unimaginable; Mike was swept off of his feet and slammed into the wall and floor, briefly dazed. The Golden Bonnie came at him further, but was suddenly hit when Marionette sprung at him.

Sam made an attempt to go for Mike who stopped him, "Sam! Run! Get out!" He warned and the technician nodded and hurried out the hole. Mike managed to get to his feet as well, only now realizing that his hand was throbbing from whatever the other did, and followed through.

Once in the hall he stared back through at the scene of the fighting animatronics, but had trouble seeing, especially when Sam yanked him back. "He'll be fine! We need to get out while he's still distracting him!" With that, Mike reluctantly began to run with Sam down the hallway. The two were halted at the very end.

Suddenly their path was blocked by a new figure at the end of the hall. Both recognized it immediately, from its dilapidated state to its twitching motions, to its red, filthy fur. It was Foxy who now blocked their path. Sam's reflexes kicked in and he shined the flashlight forwards, but Foxy didn't seem to react at all to the bright light being shined in his face. The noise from inside the sealed room suddenly spread into the hall and Mike looked back in time to see Marionette come out, followed by the very determined Golden Bonnie. It squeezed itself through without much effort from the soft walls.

"Damn…" Mike swore as he looked back towards Foxy just in time to see the animatronic break into a sprint. "Damn!" he cried again and shoved the frozen Sam against the wall. He then fell back against his own side, watching in relief as the animatronic flew by. There was a split second of panic again when he noticed Foxy and Marionette, who was floating down the hall, were in a collision course. In the last second Marionette dropped to the floor and Foxy leapt over him, diving with teeth bared and hook poised at the Golden Bonnie. Foxy's weight slamming into him knocked the bunny back.

"We've got to get out of here!" Sam warned Mike and continued to hurry down the hall. Mike lagged to watch Foxy and Marionette, waiting until Marionette was floating again and beside him before continuing out.

In the slight safety of the dining room, Mike now drew attention to their new problem, "We can't let that thing get outside the Pizzeria. Sam, there's got to be something you have that shuts off animatronics or  _something!"_

Sam hesitated for a moment, "I… I don't think… I mean, there's a Taser, but it doesn't really work." It seemed like a good enough weapon for the moment.

"Go get the Taser! I'm going to try and keep it distracted, or something. I don't know what that thing is, but we can't let it get out!" Just as he said this there was a loud thumping noise from down the hall, followed by the sound of footsteps. "Sam, quick!" Mike insisted and finally Sam took off to the door. The Golden Bonnie appeared at the doorway, its focus falling on Mike and the Puppet, though primarily on the Puppet who returned its gaze. Mike knew he needed to get to the office and called for him, "Mari, come on!"

Marionette instead spread its arms out, hovering a little higher off of the ground. Golden Bonnie started to move in and Mike was just about ready to drag the Puppet into the office. He was stopped when he noticed a few objects in the room, like chairs or broken pieces of tables, levitated into the air as well. In the last second, Marionette thrust its arms forwards and the lifted objects were thrown at Golden Bonnie. It stumbled back and blocked its face with its arms; not injured but at least briefly slowed. "Come on!" Mike commanded again and took off down the hall.

Any other time he would've been impressed, but now he had a job to do. He slipped into the office and Marionette followed him in. He quickly shut both of the doors leading inside. Then Mike began to look around the dusty monitors laying unused on the desk. "One of these has to still work… Ah!" He ripped his hand back after trying to move one of the screens, pressing it to his chest. He hissed in pain, "I think he broke my hand." He continued to try and check the monitors, eventually yanking one forward to feel around on the back.

Marionette moved in to take his injured hand with his own, looking over it with concern. Even to the animatronic it didn't look right. A loud bang on the door stopped both of them in their tracks. It was followed by another heavy one and Mike remembered that Foxy's banging caused quicker loss of power. Golden Bonnie could literally break his way into the office.

"Get behind me," Mike whispered and pushed the Puppet with his good arm. He then backed towards the opposite door, preparing to press the button and run if need be.

Only after a few steps he couldn't back away any further as Marionette was brushing the opposite door. The animatronic grasped his shoulders tightly as it waited. Another bang, another, another… And then silence. Mike heard the sound of heavy footsteps that were trying to somewhat run back into the dining room.

"He could be coming to this other side," Mike warned and moved them back to the desk. "He _could_ be coming from either side… If Sam or Jeremy walked in, though…" A nagging concern bothered him and he worried about what he couldn't see from inside the office. He turned back to assault the monitors, searching each, plugging in wires, and finally having one click on. "Hah! We're on!"

It wasn't easy to see through the fuzz of the monitor and Mike had to manually change it to show the dining room. There he and Marionette could see Golden Bonnie and Foxy back in a battle. Foxy tore a hunk of fabric off of Bonnie's shoulder while the bunny managed to wrestle him back against the wall. He angled Foxy's head out of the way with one hand and clamped his other tightly around his neck. It wasn't to strangle; it was to destroy.

Marionette let out a cry and suddenly disappeared, giving Mike only a second before he too appeared on the screen. The monitor went haywire with the Puppet's presence. It was almost as though it couldn't properly detect him and, because of this, he sputtered in and out of vision. Mike could see Golden Bonnie get struck by the thick strings of the Puppet which then tightened and yanked back, trying to drag him away from Foxy. Golden Bonnie dropped Foxy and tried to struggle, falling down to the floor.

For a second Mike thought that Marionette had succeeded in overpowering the animatronic and felt an eagerness intensify his pulse. More of Golden Bonnie's fabric was shaved off by the wires. Then, in one quick second, it seemed to suddenly get a burst of energy and grabbed the wires, yanking them back. Marionette was caught off guard; Mike was too as Golden Bonnie had deceptively looked like he was weakened. He used Marionette's own strings against him, dragging him closer and trying to tangle him.

This was all Mike needed to see; in a panic he looked for any sort of weapon he could get. He settled on the fan and the tape player, as they were the only things he could throw with some sort of weight to them, and sprinted down the hall to the dining room. He heard a loud cracking noise right before he actually arrived. What Mike saw was certainly not the scene he saw in the office, but something much worse. The Golden Bonnie had gotten complete control over Marionette using the strings and seemed to have just thrown him to the floor, face down, his hand on the Puppet's back still tangled in the wires.

Mike knew what the cracking noise was before he had even seen the Marionette. In a panic he threw the fan, an awkward gesture since he could only use one hand. Because Golden Bonnie was crouched it actually struck his head. It seemed to do something too. There was a strange noise that sounded like sliding metal inside of the animatronic and it shivered, then looked directly at Mike. Mike moved the tape player into his good hand and prepared to throw again.

"Get your hands off of him,  _rabbit_!"

He planned for Golden Bonnie to charge him, but instead Golden Bonnie was suddenly sucker punched by a hook as Foxy came back into the fray. Foxy seemed to be more than determined to ward the bunny further back into the dining room, which allowed Mike to address the Puppet. "Come on…" he murmured to himself as he untangled the strings, watching as they slowly slid back into the black fabric, and watched as the animatronic started to move a little. He wasn't moving right, though. He struggled to get his arms and hands underneath to push himself upwards, so Mike assisted in lifting him.

Usually there was always a sort of pull when the Puppet moved around him, the effect of him hovering, but it was completely absent as he was entirely limp. Once upright, Marionette clutched at his face and Mike tried to nudge away his hands with one of his.

"Let me see it," Mike instructed firmly and Marionette let his arms drop. His entire face was severely cracked. None of the porcelain seemed to have broken off, thankfully, but Mike wasn't sure how he was going to fix something like this. The color even seemed to be more muted and pale along his cheeks and lips.

"Oh God… Uh… Okay, we can fix this." Mike looked around desperately, "Not now, just… Alright, we need to get you out of here. Can you lift yourself or anything?"

Marionette weakly shook his head. He was already having to lean on Mike to stay upright. "Then I'm going to need your help. Just- Here." He started trying to lift Marionette, which was surprisingly not difficult, and managed to juggle him using his arm instead of his broken hand. Though right when he had him where he needed him, something suddenly flew through the air and landed beside him. Mike looked down and blanched at the sight of a hook tipped arm.

"Don't look," he warned. Marionette didn't move, he just clung onto Mike for dear life. Golden Bonnie stared down Mike once again, leaving Foxy slumped against the wall, twitching and seemingly damaged enough that he was malfunctioning. Mike took a step back before raising the tape player threateningly. "Get the hell away from me! I'm not afraid of you!" Golden Bonnie kept lumbering forwards and the former security guard wasn't sure whether it wanted him, Marionette, or simply both.

He tossed the tape player and grabbed the animatronic with his good arm, taking a few quick steps back towards the hallway. The tape player his Bonnie's ear and landed behind him.  _"_

_-recorded my messages for you… When I did."_

The voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere and Mike choked for a split second, brought on by his already growing alarm, but then realized it was the tape player. "Great timing, Phone Guy," he sarcastically huffed under his breath. It then occurred to him that Golden Bonnie had stopped in its tracks.

Its head twitched and its mouth briefly opened a small slither.

" _Hey, do me a favor. Maybe sometime you could check inside those suits, uh, in the back room? I'm going to try to hold out… Until someone checks."_

Slowly Golden Bonnie turned around, staring down at the tape player laying there on the floor, eyeing it.  _"_

_Maybe it won't be so bad. I-I always wondered what was in those empty heads back there…"_

In the split second that the sound of Freddy's toreador march began to play, Golden Bonnie lashed out, bringing his foot down directly onto the tape player. It crunched and died underneath his foot. The tape was destroyed as well.

Then a shadow darted by Mike and appeared behind Golden Bonnie, shoving a glowing tool at its back. It was none other than Sam and Golden Bonnie let out a mechanical groan at being electrocuted. It then turned and knocked the technician back. Sam fell back against a broken table, his back striking the table painfully. The animatronic seemed to still be malfunctioning as it twitched and stared, mouth opening and closing, but it didn't come forwards to attack even though the technician was at a disadvantage.

Sam got up quickly and jumped forwards, jamming his Taser into the side of Golden Bonnie's neck. This bold gesture got a stronger reaction than he expected, with Golden Bonnie violently seizing for a few moments. Though Golden Bonnie then responded by striking again, his fist hitting Sam in the upper chest and knocking him to the floor yet again. Sam gasped and tried to get the air back into his lungs from the sudden blow, wheezing lightly. To his and Mike's fortune, Golden Bonnie seemed to suddenly become wary of them and stared them down before heading back to the bathroom hallway and vanishing.

Mike didn't know if it was leaving to recover or planning something else, but it was still an immediate danger, and Mike knew that he couldn't just leave without making sure that the animatronic wouldn't hurt anyone else. It wasn't like Marionette; its aggression was much more intense. Mike moved to Sam's side. "Are you okay?"

Sam nodded with a cough, "Yeah, I'm fine… I think my asthma just flared up for the first time in thirteen years." He was joking lightly, but then looked to Foxy's arm lying beside him. "It… It got Foxy?"

He lifted the arm in horror while Mike gestured across the room. "He's over there. I don't know if he's worse off. He's not moving or anything. You're going to have to take the Marionette and let me go after Golden Bonnie."

Marionette's grip tightened while Sam looked reluctant, "Mike, you're not going back there alone."

"No, let's all go back there together. You get Jeremy and you both can carry Foxy, remember the arm, and I'll just balance the Taser on top of Puppet," Mike responded sarcastically. "Sam, if I'm going to die because of a stupid decision at least let it be one that doesn't get everyone else killed. He probably only went back there to lure us into that room. I can do more if I go it alone."

Sam seemed to disagree, but Mike was distracted with Marionette. "I'm going to pass you over to Sam. You worry about keeping yourself together." He tightened his grip. "Come on, Mari." Then came the wires. Mike exhaled slowly and was preparing to continue, but then Marionette tried to speak. His voice came out smothered in broken tones and static, but not from anger.

The voice sounded damaged and he guessed it had to do with the cracked face. "F..xy…ke…me…F..xy…" What Mike definitely heard was 'Foxy'.

"Want me to put you over with Foxy?" Marionette nodded, then limply dropped his arm too gesture in the direction of the hooked arm in Sam's hands. The technician passed it over and Mike headed over to Foxy's slumped body. The fox animatronic wasn't shaking as much, but it still looked in poor condition, especially with its missing an arm.

Mike crouched down and carefully lowered Marionette down, allowing him to move into a crouching position. The Puppet looked over Foxy slowly, reaching out tentatively and brushing the spot where his arm needed to be. Foxy made a metallic noise from its chest and trembled a little. Seeing that the two were content enough, Mike slid back and looked to Sam, mouthing out, "Watch them." He took the Taser in his good hand.

"Then I can't stop you…" Sam exhaled, then broke into another round of coughing. "Here," he got his jack knife out and handed it over. "The cords in the neck are always the weak spot. If you hit the wrong one then nothing happens, if you hit the right one the system is damaged enough that it shuts down. I… Can't even begin to tell you which is which. I don't even know in this thing." Mike took the jack knife and Sam got a playful smile, "Sure you don't want me coming?"

Mike gave a nod, "I think I can handle it. I'm not afraid of it." With that, Mike headed into the bathroom hall.

"Be careful," Sam warned him quietly. That was the last thing Mike heard before he started down the hallway.

He tried to keep his footsteps quiet as he approached the hole. Since he didn't have his flashlight he was going in with worse vision than before. He inched around the hole, trying to look in and see if he could see Golden Bonnie. He couldn't and edged inside to see if, getting any closer, he could see where it was. This was a mistake as suddenly Golden Bonnie was on him from the side, right from a blind spot.

It grabbed Mike by the front of his shirt and threw him to the wall. The man stumbled briefly and then recovered, so when Golden Bonnie went to grab at his head he jammed his Taser into its wrist. Golden Bonnie let out a roaring groan and took a step back, but Mike was ruthless. He looked to the puddle in the back corner and decided to use it to his advantage. With Golden Bonnie stunned, he used all his strength to run forward and try to push him back. Between both weight and charge, Golden Bonnie staggered right into the trap, and into the puddle.

There was a brief tussle as it tried to get its hands on the Taser. Eventually one hand was on Mike's throat and in this moment he got the right angle to shock it, but he couldn't because Mike knew it would crawl along the arm and possibly shock him too. Instead he was forced to drop the Taser and go for the jack knife, jamming it into the animatronic's arm. It yanked back and Mike planned to grab the Taser, jump forwards, and then do something amazing… But he didn't, because for a split second he saw something inside the mouth of the rabbit. It was a second of something fleshy.

Suddenly Mike knew what that smell was. There was some sort of body inside of the animatronic. He leaned down to grab the Taser and as Golden Bonnie moved in again he jammed it in the ankle with it, triggering the groaning and the seizing yet again. The water didn't work like Mike had been hoping it would as the Taser simply didn't have enough of a shock to it. Though his eyes now landed on the fleshy coils around its ankles and he felt sick. In one last ditch effort he pulled upwards and took a step back, then shoved forwards again, ramming Golden Bonnie while shocking him.

Golden Bonnie fell into a sitting position like he had been when Mike first entered the room. The man standing in front of him caught his breath as he considered his next actions. The plan was to jump in and violently attack, to stop Golden Bonnie from attacking anyone else, but suddenly Mike found emotions overtaking him. It was overwhelming anger as he suddenly connected what Marionette said to what was in this room. The body was obviously of an adult, trapped in this room, being attacked by the other animatronics.

"I know who you are," Mike growled out. "I don't know your name, but I know what you did."

Golden Bonnie had been attempting to stand, but slowed to a stop and instead stayed still. The former security guard stepped forwards aggressively, holding his ground as he stared down at the thing that had attacked him and the others.

"Maybe you were just forgotten back here, maybe Fredrick knew you were here and left you here to rot, I don't know. I don't care really. It's a justified fate, isn't it? Stuck back here in what you created." He clutched his fists, ignoring the pain in his broken hand. "You killed those kids, didn't you?"

Golden Bonnie didn't even respond. Mike just stared at this being in front of him, knowing that it hadn't been confirmed or denied, knowing that it wasn't going to admit to anything. "And you just kept coming back. Kept tempting fate because, hey, nobody caught you the first time, right? Just kept coming back…" It didn't respond at all. " _Do something, damn it_!"

Finally, Golden Bonnie responded when Mike's actually yelled. It raised its head, stared at Mike, and then reached to its head and tried to lift it. As much as it tried to prey off the heavy head, it was completely stuck and going nowhere. It was a grotesque display; its mouth opened just enough that Mike could see more of the face inside. It was obscured in shadows but he could still see the outline of a gaping mouth inside of the mouth. The smell had only grown more intense, as though the suit was the only thing containing it. Along with the fleshy material inside, but even that was trying to slide out from any crack or opening in the suit. He couldn't watch it any longer but he couldn't force himself to look away.

He inhaled shakily and then announced, "You have a choice here. I won't make it for you. Like it or not, you and I share more in common than I feel comfortable with, but I'll be dead before I take the responsibility of choosing for you. Option one, you sit back here in this room sealed away until demolition. You get to sit back here waiting in that husk until the walls fall around you, and that's if they actually go ahead with the demolition like planned… Or you let me shut you down now. It's the closest thing you're getting to mercy. There's nothing else I can give you. I just don't even have it."

The animatronic didn't respond at all, but Mike started to step forwards. Since it wasn't outright being aggressive at the moment he assumed it would be cooperative. He leaned down in front of it, staring at its neck and looking for the cord that would force it to shut down. This probably wouldn't be enough, most likely Sam would have to dismantle it later, but this would end the threat and he reached forwards. Golden Bonnie's arm darted out and its heavy hand caught Mike's wrist. For a second Mike's heartrate skyrocketed, he braced himself for a fight, and he waited for what was coming.

What came was Golden Bonnie releasing a muffled groan. It sounded almost human, like a voice trying to say something, and then laid it head back against the wall. The gap between the torso and head was now more evident. It already knew what he was planning on doing and he couldn't continue for a second. Mike managed to talk himself forwards and he started checking the neck for a significant cord. He didn't want to cut anything he didn't have to; he wanted this clean and quick. He was already ashamed of doing this.  _"He killed those kids without mercy. This is already better than he deserves."_

It didn't make him feel better, but eventually he did find some sort of cord that seemed of some significance towards the back. He had to dig through a lot of rotten flesh to find it, to his disgust, and he could only hope that it would work. Hopefully with the animatronic off the spirit in it would also go dormant. That's all Mike could hope for.

"…Whatever happens next is better than this," Mike said, not sure which of them he was reassuring. Then there was a quick slice. He hadn't realized how much noise Golden Bonnie seemed to make until that moment, as everything went dead silent.

Mike waited to make sure that it took and it was soon obvious that the animatronic had shut down. As for the soul inside, he didn't know what had happened. He didn't want those answers. He stood and stumbled out of the room, started down the hall, and then stopped towards the end. The Taser and jack knife slid from his hand, but he ignored them to raise his hand towards his face. He was planning to rub his burning eyes, but instead stopped when he noticed the filth that accumulated on his hands. It was the decay from inside of the suit, and it felt like it was tainting him.

He leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. He didn't care if he was sitting in a puddle of water for the moment. His broken hand was hurting worse every second, he couldn't get away from the smell, and the thought of what he had done… He didn't know why it was bothering him so much. Maybe if Golden Bonnie hadn't had been so willing. He knew it was the murderer inside the suit, it had to be, but still… Mike shuddered at the sensation of warmth on his eyes. He tried to fight back the tears, but he couldn't touch his face.

"It's okay."

Mike heard the voice out of nowhere and turned his head to listen through the wall. He then realized that Foxy and Marionette were probably still on the other side. He couldn't see Marionette embracing Foxy around the neck, holding him protectively while Foxy now held his missing arm with his remaining hand.

"I'm still here… I will put you back together."

Mike forced his eyes closed as he tried to calm himself down, trying to cling onto that one thought. This wasn't the end of the world. He wasn't like the man in the suit; he still had a chance.

"I will put you back together."


	11. Chapter 11

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Eleven_

It was tinged with brown and smelled like metal, but it was still water, and it was better on his hands than the smell of decaying flesh. Mike took an extensively long time washing his hands off. This was mostly because his hand was hurting and he was afraid to jostle it any more than he had already. He was going to have to get it looked at; there was something certainly wrong with it visibly. He washed his face as well and hoped nobody could see that he had a small breakdown. He then checked the dusty mirror and stared back at himself with an empty expression.

" _And I look like corpse, of course."_ He continued to rub at his face, trying to get back the normality on his face. Once he decided that he was as good as he was going to get, he staggered back into the hall and into the dining room. Sam and Foxy were both gone, but Marionette was sitting in one of the chairs against a table. He seemed to be moving fine now and looked back to Mike when he entered the room. The human noticed that the cracks on his face had started to grow thinner by now. "You look how I feel," Mike remarked matter-of-factly, leaning on the doorframe.

He then dragged himself forwards and lifted a chair off of the ground, going to sit in it. "How do you-?"

There was a crunch the second Mike sat on the chair and he began to plummet, barely able to grab onto the table at the last moment. Marionette stared at him as he casually stood once more. "…So yeah, I think I'm just going to stand."

The Puppet chimed in amusement and the human took this as a sign that the other was a little better. "How do you feel?"

Marionette gave a teasing reply, resting his head on his hand, "About as good as you look." Mike fought the urge to roll his eyes. "…Is it done?" Marionette then asked in a quieter, much more serious tone.

Mike gave a slow nod, "Yeah… Don't worry about it. I don't want to even talk about it." The black and white animatronic nodded slowly in understanding. Of course he probably did understand; perhaps he even somehow knew what the man had did.

They were interrupted by the sound of footsteps as Sam entered back into the Pizzeria. Relief filled his face as he saw Mike unharmed, "There you are. I was wondering when you were coming out of the bathroom."

"I had to get clean. The stuff on my hands… I rather have literal blood on my hands," he shivered, then glanced at his hand. "And I think I broke one of the bones in my palm. It's not too bad, but I'm going to have to get it looked at." Marionette reached for his hand again, looking it over like he had in the office.

"Maybe you should take a trip to the emergency room. I already have Foxy in the van and Jeremy's in your car. I'm sure he'd be willing to drive you."

Mike stared at him, "…You actually got Foxy in the car? And wait, what about you, you were practically punched in the chest."

Sam rubbed a hand over the sore spot, "I'll live. It didn't feel like anything was broken and it's not like they'll do anything for a big, fist shaped bruise."

This made enough sense and Mike looked to Marionette. "What do you think? Or are you doing the mute thing because Fritz is in the room?" He was just joking and didn't actually expect a response, so it surprised him when Marionette actually gave one.

"I'm wondering whether or not this would count as a slap on the wrist," he teased back.

"Trust me, a slap didn't do this much damage," Mike responded and looked to Sam.

Naturally Sam was just standing there, awkwardly watching as the two conversed, and then coughed. "I'm guessing everything  _back there_ was taken care of… I'll take Foxy and Bonnie back to the warehouse and try to get Foxy's arm reattached. Then I'll figure out what the plan is with him… I should probably shut off the electricity too while I'm here."

Mike agreed and added, "And I need you to take Mari back to the house." Marionette's head snapped to attention. "I don't know how long it's going to take so I can't leave you in the car, and going inside with me just won't work."

"You're right. I hate hospitals," Marionette replied in defeat, look away once more. He then fell silent and it was obvious that he was upset, though not at Mike.

"Can you move again or should I carry you? I'm good for it," Mike offered and the Puppet made an attempt to stand. This was the first time he had actually seen the animatronic try and use his legs for holding his weight. It was clearly obvious that there was a struggle; like without whatever bit of the levitation remained, the legs would simply collapse underneath him. He then managed to get an inch off of the ground.

"Just… Here," he laid a hand on Mike's arm. "There we go! Just lead me out, I can handle the rest," he chirped confidently. His hand clamped onto Mike's shoulder as they headed out into the parking lot.

Mike led Marionette to Sam's van, opening the passenger door, "I'm not even going to try fitting you in with Foxy and Bonnie. Just make sure to keep your head below the window… It shouldn't be that hard; I've seen you fit into that box." The Puppet moved in and stared at Mike. He didn't say anything as he watched the male shut the door.

Mike then shuffled to his car and called in to Jeremy, "I need you to drive me over to the hospital."

Jeremy jumped out in horror, "You're okay, right? What happened?"

Mike vaguely explained, "I got a slap on the wrist and need to go sit for an hour so I can get it wrapped up." Jeremy opened the door for him and let him in, then hopped in the driver's seat and drove off.

Marionette watched them go as Sam secured Foxy in the back and climbed in. He sent a look to the Puppet of concern, "Umm… I think I could take a look at those cracks if you need me to."

Only now did he remember that Sam had heard him clearly speaking earlier. No doubt this meant that now couldn't do the silent treatment. Or perhaps he could, but it just seemed awkward. As much as Marionette didn't want to talk, not when he was worried about Mike who seemed to leave so quickly. It was obvious when Mike came out of the back room that something was wrong. He could just feel it radiating off of him. A sort of somberness radiated off of him that he didn't expect from Mike, and then the male acted… Too normal. It concerned Marionette.

But Sam was waiting for an answer so Marionette gave one to him. "It'll close on its own eventually. If you're going to worry yourself, worry about Foxy," he gestured back towards Foxy in the back.

Sam stiffly nodded, "Uh, okay…" They sat there uncomfortably as Sam steered the van out of the parking lot. Marionette slowly slid down to the floorboards, easily managing to fold himself in like fitting into the box. He then rested his head in his hands, elbows resting against the seat, and looked to Sam with a playful glint. Since he was stuck here anyway…

"Don't I know you from somewhere?" Marionette asked in a falsely innocent tone.

As expected, Sam reacted with a slight tinge of nervousness, "Uh, yeah. You saw me outside probably."

The Puppet let out a chuckling chime, "Are you sure? I think I've seen you somewhere before..." Once he was certain that Sam was properly uneasy, he found that he wasn't as entertained that he thought he would be. His thoughts kept going back to Mike. "…If you wouldn't mind, I would prefer to stay with Foxy until he's back together again." He didn't want to go back to the house alone yet.

"That's fine by me. It might keep Foxy a little calmer… Then again," he glanced into the mirror at Foxy's unmoving body. He grew slightly concerned about the animatronic not moving in some amount of time. "…We're almost there. I think we can all last until then."

Marionette chimed again in amusement, but it was slightly force. He could only hope that Sam was as reliable as Mike seemed to believe he was.

* * *

_The building was suddenly so cold after everything. It could be the rain slipping through the ceiling, but Marionette believed that it was instead from what had happened. There was a sort of joy that remained as well. He wanted to laugh, but it didn't seem appropriate, so he just continued to smile. It emotionally, not physically, wavered as he saw the scattered parts sitting out in the middle of the room. Seeing the empty faces of the decapitated heads made him feel uneasy. He forced himself to keep in mind that anything could be put back into place. They would be all better soon._

" _Mari…" T_

_he weakness in the usually booming voice sent a shiver down his back. The Puppet was quick to hover over to the only intact figure amongst the limbs. There was a slouched bear animatronic who he had knew well, who he had once feared, and who now he worried for extensively. The golden colored being was slouched against the wall, unmoving as it spoke. "_

_Mari… I'm sorry."_

_Marionette said nothing; he already realized that something was terribly wrong. He stared at the unmoving figure._

_"_ _I guess I lied to you. I didn't mean to, but I still lied, even if I didn't know it."_

_The being's voice grew a small bit quieter at the end of the comment. "_

_Look at us, Mari. We're broken beyond repair. There's no coming back for us… We're free."_

_There was joy in his voice, but it scared the black and white animatronic more and more. "_

_We will always be your friends, but we can't be here any longer. Our time is done. The others are already gone and I'm next… I always wanted to protect you. I always wanted to be by your side. Even after everything… I never wanted it to come to this. I want you to know that."_

_He didn't move, but his voice sounded choked, sounded sad._ _Marionette agreed without a visible or audible response. He knew that the golden bear would simply know. He knew that something was going terribly wrong. This wasn't how it was supposed to be; they were supposed to be happy after the Purple Man was gone. They were supposed to finally be free, but this wasn't the freedom that he had wanted._

_"_ _I can't stay here any longer, Mari. It's out of my hands. After all of these years… I finally feel so light. This heavy burden doesn't hold us down anymore. We can finally move on and be free of this place."_

_A soft light glowed in the form's eyes and it finally moved. It leaned upwards and stared above itself, as though looking into something that couldn't be seen. Then the animatronic collapsed and the light died, its body beginning to fade after it. Marionette knew that he was gone. He could feel it; he was alone. All of them had moved on without him. They were free and he had never felt so trapped. He dropped to the marble floor and hunched forward, trembling as he rested there. This had been his prize for completing his goal. His prize was being alone._

* * *

Just thinking about it made him realize how quiet the house was. Marionette stared at the carpeted floor of the hallway and let his mind wander. He wasn't sure how long it had been since Sam had left him here. Foxy had been fixed, though was set into a sort of sleep mode in the warehouse and thus left with Sam. Marionette didn't know if Foxy could handle being back at this house. Just because he remembered him didn't mean that he remembered before being an animatronic, Freddy and the gang never really had, and it was probably best that it was just him.

Mike should've been home by now. It had been hours. Marionette looked upwards at the grandfather clock in front of him, checking the time once more. He had already done so numerous times since he had gotten home. It didn't make sense that it would take him this long to get home from the hospital, unless it had been worse than he though. Mike had been thrown around a bit so it wouldn't have been too out of the question if he had an internal injury. Maybe he could have even suffered a heart attack.

And Marionette had let him do it. He let that monster damage Mike, Foxy, and himself. He knew he was out of practice, but that had been embarrassing. He felt over his face to check the barely visible cracks on the porcelain. By tomorrow they would be gone, but Mike might be as well. That is what terrified him so much; he didn't think he could handle Mike disappearing too. Not after how well he protected him today; Mike saved him from any more damage and complete humiliation. Yet as he rolled on his side to stare down the hallway, he felt confused.

He held himself and attempted to enact some sort of self-comfort. Right when he thought that maybe he could calm down, he heard a familiar thump noise from outside the house. He perked with a soft gasp as he noticed that it was a car door. Either it was Sam or it was Mike, and he couldn't help but believe that it was Mike about to come through the door. He watched the door, starting to raise himself off of the ground. He was finally able to hover fine on his own, though leaned back on the wall cautiously, wondering if it would be an unknown man to tell him that Mike was gone.

Then the door actually opened and a familiar man stepped in, looking exhausted. Marionette was over to him in an instant, teleporting beside him. It got a jump out of Mike who then gave a small smile.

"Glad to see you got back without any bloodshed." He raised his arm to reveal a cast around his wrist and hand, "Just bad enough to get stuck with one of these for a few-." Marionette leapt forward at this point, embracing him tightly in his striped arms, and seemed resistant to moving away. Thankfully he completely missed the cast and Mike rested his good hand on his back, "weeks."

He found a sort of relief being back and everything being alright. Marionette murmured a soft, "I'm glad you're home." The way he worded that felt purposeful, like he was accentuating 'home'. Right afterwards, the Puppet moved back at arm's length, his hands moving to his shoulders. "That was quite a long time for a cast. Did you get lost?"

He teased and now looked to the cast. Mike groaned and looked to it as well, "I wish. I sat in the ER for at least three or four hours. There was some woman brought in with a blood sugar thing, and then her family camped out in the waiting room-."

He continued to go on about his experience, heading into the kitchen, while Marionette loyally followed and listened. He found an overwhelming delight in having the man back safe and sound. Eventually Mike seemed to notice his face, "…Did the cracks close on their own?" He couldn't imagine that he would let Sam that close.

"They did," Marionette chirped in response.

Mike stared at him for a few seconds, as though not fully certain how to respond, and then shrugged it off. "That's a relief. I wasn't sure if that could be something that could get superglued back together."

After that playful comment, Mike continued to explain about how things went at the hospital. Yet it didn't take too long for Marionette to realize that he was acting a little strange. He expected questions about the man in the suit, about the pizzeria, about anything involving what happened earlier, but there were none. Under any other circumstance, this would be a blessing. It wasn't like he really wanted to think about any of it again. This was Mike though, and Mike was notorious for wanting answers. He hadn't even asked about how exactly the cracks healed themselves.

At first the Puppet assumed that maybe Mike just wanted to put it off. Yet as time ticked by and they attempted to return to normal activities, it started to bother him more and more, and Mike still didn't mention it at all. If anything, he was dodging any mention of it. He hadn't even, to the Puppet's knowledge, called to check on Sam or Foxy. It was starting to nag at him more and more throughout was left of the day. During some point, Marionette was forced to retreat to his room and just tried to make sense of what he was going to do. He paced without actually touching the ground.

The first thing that came to mind was that he had to confront Mike. This wasn't really Marionette's forte; as direct as he could be he didn't tend to seek anyone out and demand to know their inner thoughts. Never had he even wanted that much direct contact with humans, what with the risks of being seen. Even with Mike he hadn't expected it, as he seemed usually kept together fine. There was something off and they were going to have to address it now. He could hear the shower running in the bathroom and decided to corner Mike.

He appeared inside the room, arms crossed, and voice firm. "Mike, we need to talk."

Mike's reaction was an immediate cry of alarm, glancing out from around the shower curtain. "What are you doing in here?!" He pulled in the curtain to shield himself.

Ironically, it was now the Puppet who wished he could roll his eyes. "We need to talk about what happened earlier. Believe me, I don't want to, but we can't pretend it didn't happen."

Mike was still clearly flustered and very uncomfortable. "Do we have to do that now?! I'm sort of in the middle of something!"

"I'll be in my room, then." That was Marionette's final answer before he left, not sure why Mike was so touchy about the shower.

Mike, on the other hand, could currently care less and was more concerned about this 'talk' they were to be having. The last thing he wanted to do was discuss what happened earlier, especially with the reminder on his hand, wrapped in a plastic bag to keep it dry. He knew there was no point in avoiding the Puppet and made sure he was put together before heading to confront him. Hopefully he could talk him into a quick resolution.

"Alright, I'm here," Mike announced as he entered, shutting the door behind him out of reflex. He leaned on it and looked to the animatronic across the room. He partially mocked the human's posture by leaning against his box in an almost casual gesture.

"I'm worried about you, Mike. What happened earlier was, let's say, a catastrophe at worst and a victory at best… And you've been extremely quiet on the subject."

Mike quirked a brow, "I was there. I didn't think there was really anything to talk about. You saw what I saw." He sounded so unaffected.

For a second Marionette questioned his assumption. Perhaps his misjudged the change in Mike's usual patterns. "I suppose I did, but you've never been one to simply leave things as they are." His tone became lighter and a bit more playful.

Yet suddenly Mike's tone changed too, but surprisingly in the opposite direction. "It was… Pretty intense. At least it's over." He noticed that the black and white animatronic was still staring. "I'm fine, trust me. I just a good night's sleep and a meal." He smiled to reassure his point.

"You are a terrible liar, Mr. Schmidt," Marionette answered.

Mike became more defensive and insisted in his own, firmer voice. "Look, Mari, I don't want to talk about it, okay? I had a hard enough day- We had a hard enough day." He hesitated to let the annoyance drain from his voice. He didn't exactly want to snap at Marionette and decided instead to try calming himself down. "If I wanted or needed to talk about it, you would be the first to know. What I did had to be done and I don't feel any guilt for that, and what I saw… I've seen worse." The words seemed somewhat convincing.

"Then I'll take your word for it. You have had a rough day and I certainly owe your quietness." He turned towards his box, "Would you wind me?"

Mike hummed in surprise, "It's a little early, isn't it?"

The animatronic slid into his box with a slight shrug. "It's never too early to be exhausted." The healing had taken more out of him than the injury, but the last thing he wanted was to stay cracked for good.

Mike held the music box between his casted arm and body while he wound it. "Alright. I'll be moving around for a while if you hear anything." The music box was set down to play.

Marionette disappeared down into his box, watching Mike until he could no longer see him, and then closed the box. The world faded away into the song of the music box. Sleeping varied for him; sometimes it felt like blacking out, sometimes it felt like actual sleep, this time it resembled more of the former. He was so tired that it didn't surprise him. What did surprise him was rousing when the music box went off. Usually he would just fall back asleep, still lulled by the music, and sometimes wouldn't wake at all. However, this time he could feel that he wasn't alone.

The box was slowly opened and revealed the dim bedroom. Then he slowly raised himself a slight bit out of the box to check. Mike was still in the room. Marionette didn't know if he left at some point, a few hours must have passed, but Mike was sitting on the bed with his head in his hand. The black and white animatronic raised further out of the box and was as silent as possible. He wondered if Mike was awake as he wasn't moving, but it seemed impossible for Mike to be able to sit like that if he was asleep. He tilted his head curiously and lightly tapped his fingers on the edge of the box.

He wasn't sure how to alert Mike he was here without startling him. Maybe it was best not to alert him at all. Before Marionette could make a decision, Mike exhaled and tossed his arms down tiredly. Now he was able to glance over and noticed that he was being watched. His blue eyes widened, he stared for a few seconds, and then he swore under his breath.

"The music box…" Marionette tapped his fingers again in almost an agreeing response. "I'll take care of it…" Mike reached to the music box and set it in his lap to wind it. The Puppet didn't stop him. He didn't have to.

Mike stopped himself midway through the gesture and put the box to the side. "Wait… I need to ask you something." He dragged his good hand through his hair as he inhaled. "Mari, am I like him?" Marionette tilted his head again. "The murderer. That… That Purple Man."

Marionette's reaction is instantaneous; his face couldn't hide his shock from the question. This wasn't what he thought he was going to hear. "It's been driving me insane for the last couple of hours. I just can't stop thinking about it. We were basically the same person."

" _No,"_ Marionette snapped, anger evident on his face. "You are nothing like him."

Mike gave him a slightly weak look of exasperation. "Look at the facts. We were both night guards, we both survived multiple shifts, we both couldn't get away from the Pizzeria… I'm practically becoming him. Other than killing people, I'm already following his exact path."

Black hands gripped the edge of the box tighter. "Don't say that. That's simply not true. That was a  _monster_  in that suit. You're not a monster, Mike."

"But I could be," he became a little more panicked. His breathing became quicker and he took shorter breaths. "He had to be just a normal guy at some point. If we're this close now, then whatever turned him into that… That could happen to me. I could become the same monster that he was. Aren't you afraid of what could happen? I'm not stable. I'm not even a good person."

Marionette now struck the box's edge with his hand, "I'm not afraid of what you won't become, Mike! If anything, I'm afraid of you getting yourself killed!"

Mike seemed entirely unfazed at the comment. In fact, he sent Marionette a very unenthusiastic look. "I think me getting killed is the least of my problems right now."

The Puppet clearly disagreed, "Well, it's certainly my problem! Do you realize how close-?!" Then in a second he managed to calm himself down, going quiet and forcing his voice to even out. The last thing he wanted was to get worked up, even though it was most certainly a touchy issue. "You could have died today, Mike. Then you would've been gone like all the others."

Mike paused to offer, "I wasn't going to get myself killed… What do you mean, the others?" There was actually that fleck of curiosity and the black and white animatronic found his voice slipping. Of course he couldn't exactly chastise the other for not wanting to talk and then shut him down. It wasn't like he didn't want to get this out anyway. He was tired of keeping all of this pent frustration inside and not having any outlet. He was just relieved that Mike was at least looking interested in something.

"Foxy wasn't supposed to be alive. I saw him and the rest of them slip away after the Purple Man's death. They all moved on… Even Goldie. I trusted and then where did it get me?" He gave a chime of forced amusement; it was out of tune. "He left me just as easily as the others did!... And Foxy left too. I don't know why he is back, I don't know how he's back… Isn't it ironic? Goldie was my best friend and left me; Foxy spent most of his life hating me and he was the one who came back!" That forced, out of tune chiming returned.

Mike furrowed his brows, "I'm guessing 'Goldie' was Golden… Fredbear?"

The Puppet gave a nod, "He never liked that name. He wanted to make himself his own entity, separate from what he was… He was everything to me. When I needed a guide, he told me where to go. He fixed me when I was a broken mess. He was always there… And he's gone." His voice grew more depressed as he slouched just a bit. "And then Father-… I'm sorry." His voice began to drop into a crackle. He didn't want to think of his father yet.

"It's okay. I got it," Mike insisted. "With Fredrick too… Yeah."

Marionette eased just a little bit. "I gave you the wrong impression of me a long time ago, Mike. I'm not a trusting person. I don't trust people unless they earn it, and those few are long gone now. Every adult, security guard or not, all have the face of the monster. I see him everywhere… Except for you." He was certain with his words, yet they still hitched. He wants to get this out, he knows Mike needs to hear it, but it's so hard to actually do it. "I trust you, Mike. If I'm taking a risk, then so be it."

Mike glanced down at his casted arm, just so he could stare at something. He did believe what the Puppet was saying, but that didn't mean he was off of the thought of the Purple Man. "Mari-," he was immediately interrupted by the animatronic continuing.

"Petty similarities; what similarities? A familiar job, the ability to survive- which is arguable in his case."

Mike started to stand, not to leave but to fidget around a bit. "That's doesn't change some of the things that happened today. I killed him so easily. I  _killed_ him."

"And that is an issue how exactly? I killed him too, technically," Marionette shrugged off. Then he continued to protest, "I would rather to have you kill him then lose you too…" He suddenly went oddly quiet. He slowly pulled back on the edge of the box. Silently he dropped into the box, catching Mike's attention.

"Uh… You okay?" Mike crossed over and looked into the box. Marionette was kneeling now, leaning against the front of the box. "So did you just pass out or give up?" he managed to give a slightly amused look. The animatronic made a crackling groan.

"You make me feel human," Marionette admitted. "Not even Goldie could do that."

There were a few seconds of silence after this. Then the sound of footsteps. Marionette half-heartedly raised his head to see Mike leaving, then dropped his head forward again, determined to go limp. At first he assumed Mike gave in, though he did return a couple of minutes later, approaching the box and moving to crouch down outside of it.

"I want to show you something. I think you'll get a kick out of it…" Marionette raised his head and immediately noticed the metal badge Mike was holding.

"Fredrick gave me this to keep after the last time I filled in for him. He actually told me I earned it. It's the most precious thing I own." He smiled as he looked down at it in his own hand. He hadn't had the badge out enough to really look at it or think about it recently. Its familiar weight eased his burden. "I survived so many nights at that Pizzeria that I can't even count anymore… Do you think some… Overgrown bunny with a bad attitude is going to take me out?" He sat down in front of the box, leaning back against it as he continued holding the badge up for the Puppet to see.

It was ironic, but somehow Mike found some reassurance from this inanimate object. Unless Fredrick was lying when he had given it to him, he was the only guard who had ever been presented with the badge to keep. The only one to earn such an honor from Fredrick. It didn't make all of the concerns go away, but it made it easier to push the overwhelming thoughts back for a while.  _"_

 _Pull yourself together, Mike. You can't be the same if you got this. It's not much, but it's something."_ Marionette affectionately wrapped his arms around Mike's neck, holding him tightly.

He could feel the other easing a little bit and knew he was starting to feel a little better. Before he could consider waiting for a better time, he suddenly requested, "Stay with me."

Mike sighed a bit and glanced down at the striped arms, slightly amused, "Don't worry about it. I'm not going anywhere."

Again, the Puppet request, "No. I mean that I want you to stay with me."

Now the human paused before answering. "…On the bed? Fine by me, but I don't think I'll be able to fit in the box if that's what you want."

"No Mike, you don't understand," Marionette chimed. "I want you to stay here with me, in the house… I know you still have your other home and other things. You could bring them by and put them in the house however you like, it really doesn't matter to me, but you could stay with me until… You could stay with me."

He didn't want to finish that one sentence. Anything he would end it with sounded surprisingly dark. The entire speech had taken Mike slightly aback though; he was still under the assumption that this was all a temporary arrangement.

"Are you sure about this? Trustworthy or not, we've only been staying together for a while and we've already become a complete mess. I can say confidently that both of us being this close is a danger in and of itself." As Mike said these words he realized how empty they were. He wasn't convincing himself; his answer was already decided by his natural instinct to shrug and say, 'Sure, let's try it'. At the moment it seemed smart; It would save him on rent, it would be easier to not keep going back and forth, and he didn't exactly want to disagree with the Puppet when its arms were around his neck.

"Sure, let's try it. Worst case scenario, you get bored and start trying to kill me. At least it'll give us something to do between Midnight and six."


	12. Chapter 12

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Twelve_

It was the first time that Mike had woken early since everything had happened. The dull ache in his arm reminded him that it was time to take a dose of something to numb the pain. He fumbled over on the nightstand for the Aspirin he has set out, not wanting anything heavier this early. He then checked the clock on the nightstand and noticed something very obvious beside the bed. When he had gone to sleep the box had not been in the middle of the floor, he knew that much. He glanced around and could see the music box on the dresser as well.

Mike slid out of bed and almost reluctantly took to the world. He briefly peered into the box and it became obvious how the Puppet moved the box; other than the animatronic, the entire box had been emptied out. The only thing left inside was a bundle of wires and what looked to be a control cross in the bottom. It didn't look comfortable and he shut it back, then immediately wound the music box. There was no point in forcing Marionette to get up early too, especially when he was going to be busy anyway. He knew he had to be getting more familiar with 'My Grandfather Clock' by now.

As the song began to play he felt a comfort setting in and set it down on the dresser. Then he stepped out and headed down the hall towards the front room, putting on coffee and grabbing his cell phone to call Sam.

"Morning, it's me. We, uh… We need to talk about something. Can you get ahold of Jeremy and come over here?... Just tell him he's asleep… See you then." He hung up the phone and continued with his morning ritual. By time the coffee was done and breakfast was started, Sam finally appeared and let himself in. "Still asleep?" Mike quipped a brow of amusement in response.

With the answer, Sam turned and called out the door. "The coast is clear, get in here," he pointed out in exasperation before sitting down at the dining room table. "I'm finally starting to feel yesterday and I'm thinking I should've just gone to the hospital. Ugh…"

He rubbed his face tiredly as Mike poured him a cup of coffee. "Trust me, you didn't want to be there. I would've rather been treated on a table at the Pizzeria." Jeremy slowly inched into the house and shut the door behind him. "Ask Jeremy, he was there. It was practically a four hour wait."

"Huh?... Oh, yeah, pretty bad," Jeremy agreed and sat down as well. "Sorry, just a little… After yesterday." He looked anxious, Sam looked tired, and Mike had a feeling what he was about to say was going to get some mixed reactions.

He sat down his plate, sat in the chair, paused for a few seconds, and then simply announced, "I want to reopen Freddy's."

There was a couple of seconds of quietness until Sam raised his head. "Is… That a joke?" Mike's face was dead serious, Jeremy looked frantic, and Sam just was dumbfounded. "Mike, we can't- why would- hold on." He got his things together, "Okay, first things first. How  _could_ we do that? The building is beyond salvaging, or beyond any sane amount of salvaging, Freddy's completely out of order, we have no money at all, it's just not really possible."

To Mike's own surprise, he found himself defending his idea as naturally as possible. He had thought about it for a while but he couldn't say he had thought through every possible downside to the idea. In fact, he wasn't even completely sure why he suddenly wanted this, and pushed his breakfast aside to work things out.

"We could get funding. I'm going to have a little money put away and I can use that for some of what we would need done, but we would have to get outside investors. Maybe we can find some of the people who had stocks in Fazbear Entertainment. As for the building… I'll give you that, the building is in shambles. Depending on what they'll do with the demolition we can decide whether to fix it or look for another location. I was thinking about it last night though and I think we could get the demolition stopped. I mean, think about it, the Pizzeria is the site of multiple unsolved disappearances."

Sam and Jeremy said nothing. They both just stared across the table at Mike like he was insane. Mike took a moment to get his thoughts together and swig another drink of coffee. "And we don't need Freddy. We've got Foxy! Foxy was always a fan-favorite, right?" They reluctantly nodded in agreement. "So it becomes 'Foxy Fazfox's Pirate Themed Pizza place' and people don't see Freddy Fazbear so they forget the bad history."

Sam seemed a little hesitant at the idea, "I don't know. They might still think Foxy caused the bite of 87."

Jeremy chimed in, "Didn't he cause the bite of 83?"

"There was a bite of 83  _too?_ " Mike asked in disbelief and was answered by the two breaking into a brief disagreement.

"I don't know. One of them was that golden bear, maybe the other one was Mangle," Sam tried to assume.

Jeremy argued, "I was the guy bit by Mangle. I'm pretty sure I remember what happened. She nearly took my head off!"

Mike looked to Jeremy in disturbance, "You were bitten by the pink Foxy?"

Jeremy got an awkward look, "Y-Yeah. Not my finest hour. Hey, nobody got killed!... I don't think. I sort of passed out pretty quickly. They were all acting wrong."

"It was that facial recognition, it never worked," Sam insisted. "Sometimes they misread people, sometimes they let people by without checking them, and they were incredibly easy to tweak the programming on. Anyone could have tinkered with them."

Mike butted in, attempting to regain the conversation, "Freddy and the gang seemed to have the same problem, I was-…"

He was completely ignored as Jeremy insisted. "They were able to see my rap sheet, and I was only arrested once, and it had  _nothing_ to do with kids!"

Mike was baffled, "Rap sheet, what?"

Again, Sam continued to drag on the conversation. "Those toys were sent for maintenance constantly. Every time I fixed something someone tweaked it and ruined it. I don't even want to think about how children could've destroyed Mangle."

Finally, Mike made his voice a little louder, "We're getting extremely off topic here. The only technicians and maintenance are going to be us, so we don't need to worry about that. Fritz, I'd just leave it to you. We'd only have two animatronics anyway. Maybe the smaller scope would be easier to deal with."

"It still doesn't fix our other problems," Sam explained rationally. He didn't want to damper Mike's hopes, but he was seriously doubtful.

The former security guard glanced down at the table, "Look, I'm going to level with you both… I just can't get over Freddy's. I can't be the only one of us whose stuck in a job he doesn't like with no hope for the future." He looked to Sam who looked away towards the floor. "How long has it been since you two worked at the Pizzeria? And you both still remember every detail. You're both in the same boat I am, I know it."

"I don't know…" Jeremy quietly started.

Mike insisted further, "But I do. As insane as it sounds, that Pizzeria became something to me, to you two, and it's unfair that it ends like this because one night guard with issues decided to completely lose it. This might be a chance for us to do something. If it works this could be bigger than Freddy's ever was. If it fails at least it doesn't go out with a scandal… At least we don't get stuck changing our names." Jeremy looked over towards Sam who Mike was looking at. Sam said nothing and fiddled with the table cloth.

"On that note, I have to go wind the music box," Mike commented in a slight attempt to ease the tension.

Jeremy made a choking noise, "Yes, hurry and do that."

Mike stood and headed towards the back. It wasn't just to wind the box, but he also felt like he needed to step away for a second to let them actually think. He had made some bold statements and he knew that both of them were liable to not react well, but he had to try. He stepped into the master bedroom and shut the door behind him. The second the door clicked closed, Marionette began to rise out of the box.

"Morning," Mike greeted. "I was just coming to wind the music box. I thought maybe you'd want to get more sleep."

Marionette moved a little stiffly and lightly stretched, "Oh, don't worry about me."

Mike got an amused smile, "You can reconsider if you want. Sam and Jeremy are sitting out in the dining room."

Almost immediately Marionette changed his tune, promptly lowering back into the box. "In that case…" He chimed playfully as Mike went to wind the box. "Don't bother. I don't need it." Mike was a little confused by the comment, but did as he said and set the music box aside unwound.

"I'll come get you after they take off." The box closed again and Mike headed back out into the hallway, crossing down towards the dining room. He wanted to wait to mention the idea to the Puppet, when they were in private. He sat down at the table. "So… Quick question, what happened to the other restaurants? There was more than one, right?"

Jeremy answered, "I heard they were closed. There was… Questionable things happening there too. I wasn't asking at the time, but it was bad enough that they were closed."

Mike nodded, "Any way those buildings would still be operational?" Jeremy shrugged a little and Mike considered it. "…Nah, probably not. They're probably running just as destroyed as this one, or have been sold to someone else." They fell silent for a few seconds.

Then it was Fritz who spoke, "You're right."

Mike looked to him, "About the other locations?"

The technician shook his head, "About me, about the Pizzeria… Look at me; every day I go back to that warehouse and try to keep everything together. I don't get paid, it doesn't need this much attention, but I still do it." He sounded completely exhausted as he spoke. "And finding jobs is impossible. The last company I worked at went under, nobody around here owns animatronics that need actual work… I spend all of my time doing standard repairs on basic computers. I don't know if you know how mundane it is to work on a dozen computer monitors and have that count as a good day." He rubbed over his face weakly, wearily, and then raised his head. "…I want to say 'Let's do it', but I know with our means it's going to fail." He cut off, sighed, and then offered, "If we can get the funding somehow I'll… I'll be your technician."

"…Thanks, Fritz," Mike didn't know what else to say. He was a bit surprised at his sudden change in decision and didn't want to rock the boat. He looked to Jeremy who seemed flabbergasted at Fritz's decision.

"I… Uh… Well…" he rubbed his shoulder. "I mean; I guess as long as I didn't have to be a night guard… It's better than sitting in a cubicle for the rest of my life, right? Even if that life would be a lot longer, probably…" So that was it. They were all in agreement about what they were planning on doing. "…So what do we do now?" Jeremy offered.

"We need to figure out if we can legally use everything. Better to be safe then get sued," Fritz suggested.

Mike agreed with him, "Fredrick's got a file cabinet in the back full of paper work. We can find something there… Let me just double check that we can get back there." He stood and beckoned the two who followed along towards the master bedroom. Mike went in first and lightly tapped on the box. There was no response, so he tapped in a more rhythmic fashion. Still, there wasn't a single noise, and Mike lifted open the box just a small bit.

There was nothing inside except for the control cross at the bottom. Mike didn't know where Marionette had gone but quickly had a reassuring thought.  _"He heard us coming and left. He's probably over in his room now."_ He opened the bedroom door the rest of the way. "It's fine, come in."

He headed in the direction of the closet followed by Fritz and a very hesitant Jeremy. "It's not going to come out? The box isn't wound…"

Mike decided it was better not to say that the Puppet was gone. Instead, he answered with, "He's not coming out. Don't worry about it."

He opened the closet and led them to the file cabinet. They began to go through the papers to see if there was anything they could figure out.

* * *

The warehouse wasn't as depressing as the dilapidated remains of the Pizzeria. That was something, he assumed, but it was still not pleasant looking at the amount of abandoned stuff left behind from the closed down Pizzeria. Everything seemed so neatly stored into boxes, fitted away calmly and in an organized fashion, that it just felt unnerving. Even for something or someone like Marionette. He drifted amongst the items and recognized most of them. The alternate heads, parts, and endoskeletons were also slightly unsettling.

It didn't cause him to hesitate as he searched for one thing in particular. Though he assumed that it wouldn't be stuck in the shelves. He didn't think it would actually be possible. Regardless, he continued into the back until he finally noticed a secluded room in the back. Unlike the open section of the warehouse, this one was relatively blocked off and he approached the doorway, looking inside. Naturally, this was what he was looking for. He could already see Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica stored in the back. They were positioned in an orderly line, most likely by Fritz.

There was one exception, as there usually was, and that was the animatronic crouched down over in the corner. Marionette's focus fell on Foxy who had secluded himself over to the side, staring at the wall. He wasn't certain if the animatronic was asleep, if he was shut off, or if it was pointedly ignoring him. Really he could buy any of them from Foxy. It felt so strange for it to only be the two of them left behind. It wasn't as though he had communicated with him much since… When Marionette had first started trying to stop the murders he always went directly to Freddy.

Really, it wasn't as though Foxy wasn't always slightly off. The others just needed a little coaxing, sometimes more than the Puppet was comfortable with, but Goldie wouldn't do it. Goldie held a lot of grudges, including those towards the other animatronics, so it only seemed understandable that the Puppet himself was the one to gather the others. But never Foxy. Even now Marionette liked to think it was because he was unreliable, because he wouldn't listen to commands, but maybe that wasn't the case. Maybe there was a more emotionally driven reason that he avoided the fox as he had.

Or maybe he was just thinking about this because of his recent reflections. Even that brought around the question of why Foxy was so different than the others. He wondered if he had seen something, if he had remembered something, and the latter sent him through a course of emotions. It was only now that Marionette realized he had been standing there staring for quite some time. Foxy hadn't moved, he hadn't moved either, and he considered his next option. His mind went back so something he remembered seeing earlier when he was passing down the aisles.

Marionette turned and headed off into the warehouse. His thoughts simplified as he tasked himself with something a bit different than usual. He found the folded object relatively quickly and looked over the purple fabric. He didn't know if Foxy liked the curtains, he didn't even know if he missed Pirate's Cove, but he did know that Foxy liked to be secluded out of view and being stuck in that back room didn't seem comfortable. He got to work and did what he could with the area and resources that he had done. Then he moved back to seek out Foxy once more.

This time he forced himself to move closer. He reached out and brushed Foxy's shoulder, and the animatronic reacted with a violent tremble. Marionette retracted his touch but wasn't exactly surprised at the reaction. Foxy stiffly raised from his crouched position and turned himself around to face the other animatronic. They stared at each other; Foxy gave no visual or auditory cues. Even the faint unexplained sense that was shared through animatronics, this cohesive sense where they could silently feel something from each other, didn't show anything that he could catch.

Foxy was entirely blank and Marionette almost took this as a bad sign. Almost, but not quite yet. Maybe Foxy was just still not fully awakened; he was clearly present the day before, so he wasn't going to assume yet that he was empty. If he was empty then he wouldn't be moving freely as he was. Keeping a distance that he hadn't the day before, Marionette started to the door and beckoned the animatronic to follow him. Thankfully Foxy followed him without trouble. Marionette led him to another part of the warehouse, a back corner of the warehouse that he had blocked off with the curtain.

Marionette paused nearby and watched to see how Foxy would react. The animatronic's ears raised in interest and he suddenly seemed to take some sort of life again. He passed through the curtain into the secluded area. It was a lot more unimpressive inside. While the shelves were lined with things leftover from the pizzeria, there wasn't really anything that he could put into the curtained area. Some leftover drawings of Foxy, a Foxy plush that somehow evaded the Puppet, and a cardboard cutout of a pirate flag. Foxy entered the are as though it was his cove and looked around at the gathered things.

His yellow eyes eventually stopped on one of the children's' drawings. He shuffled towards it and stared at it, it barely taped to the wall by a tiny slip of tape. It wasn't even as though he recognized the scene, but that the picture itself had just enthralled him, even though it was simply a rough sketch of himself. Curiosity nudged at Marionette as he wondered if any were left from when he was a fixture in the Pizzeria. He had certainly remembered a couple posted to the wall around the prize corner, but whether or not they survived transition into a warehouse had yet to be seen.

He started out of the curtain again, thinking Foxy would want to be alone as he went to scour the box of drawings, but to his surprise Foxy did follow him out. At first Marionette was fine with it as he stared searching through a box packed with childish tributes to Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie. By time he finally found a single one of himself shoved at the bottom, Foxy had been slowly inching closer and closer behind him, and he was well aware of it. The fox was being extremely clingy; for a second the Puppet knew how Mike felt. Ironically, he found the clinginess return as concern about Mike returned.

" _Yar, welcome to Pirate Cove! It be time to shove off and go on a quest for treasure!"_ An audio recording suddenly broke out. Marionette actually flinched at the sudden voice in the empty warehouse. He then looked back to Foxy, staring at him and trying to guess if he was actually trying to say something. Instead, Foxy just seemed as confused as he was, and so the Puppet let it drop. Instead, he showed the drawing to Foxy excitedly, pointing over the picture of himself with an eager delight. He wondered if Foxy could remember that far back to when he was working.

Those had been good days. The Purple Man was still at large, but the joy of passing prizes out to children was irresistible. The Prize Corner had become something of a sanctuary for him, even if it wasn't entirely of his own choice. Naturally he had heard what Mike was talking about with the others before he left. It was out of a suspicion that they were talking about him that he was listening, which he found more amusing than anything, and it had spurred him to come here. He knew he would have to anyway and he didn't want to stay in his box any longer.

Whether or not Mike could actually reopen the pizzeria was unclear. Whether or not he could keep the pizzeria and children inside safe was another matter entirely. Marionette didn't believe for a second that Mike would be capable of letting someone do what the Purple Man did, even with his vocal doubts the night before. He was clearly capable to make the right calls and wasn't afraid to do something, even if it risked his life. He wasn't one to brush something under a rug just to protect himself. This was why while Marionette was doubtful, he wasn't exactly against the idea.

He stared at the drawing again, portraying himself handing a gift to a child. He did miss that. He missed make children happy, he missed 'miscounting' tickets and giving better prizes than he was supposed to, he missed them looking to him with eagerness instead of fear. He never looked at a child and saw the Purple Man. He never felt threatened by the parents, though occasionally uneasy around them. If he was going to be honest, as much as he enjoyed this newfound freedom to wander around and do what he wanted, he did somewhat miss the perks of the pizzeria.

Which didn't make any sense. He was literally strung in place and there was a murderer on the loose, but something about it, he still missed something. Foxy started to head back towards his private 'cove' in the corner of the warehouse. Marionette now mimicked Foxy's earlier action and loyally followed him along.

* * *

Out of an entire afternoon, Mike, Sam, and Jeremy accomplished virtually nothing. Other than getting the name of a lawyer Fredrick may or may not have used, there wasn't any paperwork that officially gave them rights to using the building, Foxy, or his name without a possibility of a lawsuit. It didn't help that halfway through things were brought to an abrupt halt when Mike received a call from his workplace asking him to come in for the night shift. Against his better judgement, knowing he couldn't do much with his arm in this state, he accepted the work for the funds it offered.

He hadn't seen Marionette since that morning. Even after Sam and Jeremy were long gone, the animatronic had not returned to the house. Mike wasn't worried and just left a note before leaving the house in the evening. When he arrived at the office it was almost cleared out of workers. Nothing seemed to be different from any other night, so he wasn't exactly sure on why he had been called in. Natalie was already there downing a thermos of coffee.

"Hey," Mike greeted tiredly and sat down in his own chair. He reclined on it wearily and stared at the security monitors.

"Hey. What happened to your arm?" Natalie asked in a nonchalant fashion.

Mike attempted to briefly fold his arms behind his head, but then immediately stopped when it became too uncomfortable. "There was an accident. It's a long story."

Natalie got a playful smile as her eyes focused on the cast, "Uh huh, sure… So who's this Mary?"

Almost immediately Mike's eyes widened with a start. "What are you talking about?"

Natalie pointed to his cast, "The girl who signed your cast?"

Immediately Mike yanked his arm back and scanned the cast on his wrist. Sure enough, on the back of his cast, right where he couldn't see it unless he was looking, was the name 'Mari'. There was also a tiny smiley face drawn after it with a wide smile and round cheeks. Mike's brows raised as high as they could. There was no way that Sam and Jeremy hadn't seen it at least once, they just hadn't said anything when they did. "What in the…? How did I not see this?!"

The blonde got a cheeky smile. "Oh, I think it's kind of cute. She must be a special girl if she gets a special privilege like this."

Mike frowned at it, "This better not be permanent."

She offered her thermos and he took it, halfway through downing a gulp when his phone started to ring. He nearly choked on the liquid and passed the thermos back. He wasn't supposed to have his phone on but had forgotten to turn it off.

He answered it abruptly, "Hello?" The timing was impeccable.

The soft voice was immediately familiar, "Sorry to bother you at work, but I didn't know when you were getting back." Marionette chirped as though he hadn't defiled Mike's cast while he was asleep.

"…How exactly are you calling me?"

"That doesn't matter. What is your favorite kind of cake? Or cupcake, if we're being more precise."

Mike wasn't surprised that he dodged the question entirely. "Chocolate. Why, are you baking?"

There was a teasing tone, "I might be.~ And frosting, pink or baby blue?" The security guard glanced towards Natalie and noticed that she was looking to the screens. He had no doubt that her looking away meant that she was trying to listen, so he turned his chair away in an attempt to cut down on it.

"Uh, I guess blue. It doesn't really matter." He could hear movement over the phone.

There was then a hum of disapproval. "This one's a little past date… Well, I suppose it's fine. You did survive the pizza." He then lapsed into a brief period of silence before asking. "When are you coming home?"

Mike actually shrugged before realizing that he couldn't see him shrugging, "I just walked in, so it's going to be a while. Don't set anything on fire while I'm gone." There was a chime of contentment over the line. Mike then added in, "But when I do get home we need to talk about what you left on my arm." Marionette chimed in amusement.

He then retorted in what sounded like the most patronizing tone he could muster, "Mike, I'm pretty sure the hospital left that on your arm." Then the call ended.

Mike turned off his phone and put it away. "I don't even know why I let him get anywhere near the kitchen. If I die under mysterious circumstances, have the authorities check the cupcakes," he noted to Natalie.

She suddenly got a surprised look, "Wait, him? It's a guy?" Mike nodded and Natalie grew quieter. "Oh… That makes a bit more sense."

It caught his attention, "Excuse me?"

"Why I never heard you asking any girls out or anything. I don't have anything against it or anything like that, I'm just a little surprised."

It took a few seconds for Mike to catch on.  _"She doesn't think we're-?!"_ It wasn't even the fact that she thought he was with another guy, it was the fact that, for a second, somebody thought he and the Puppet were an item. "Whoa, wait, no. It's nothing like that!" He raised his hands in defense. "We live together but we're not- We're roommates, that's it…"

Natalie wasn't looking convinced, "And he's baking cupcakes for you?" She was smirking and Mike was ready to say anything.

"We're going into business together. We're opening the old Freddy place again." Right afterwards he knew this was a stupid thing to let slip. There wasn't even any concrete plans and yet he was already passing this information out; it had only been this morning when the decision was made.

She was shocked by the reveal, "Have you seen that place? It looks like it's going to cave in if it rains too hard! And I don't even want to think about what went down a couple of years ago…"

Mike looked towards the screen. There were a few people still working late on some of the floors, but it didn't seem like enough to have called him in for. "I know. I've already thought through all the details, it's just a matter of getting stuff done. If it works I won't have to work here anymore."

Natalie made a scoffing noise, "If only we all were so lucky." He glanced to her and noticed her sudden change in tone. She looked tired and her voice revealed exasperation that he hadn't expected from her. She always seemed so content with her job.

"…You know, if this works out I'd give you a job. I've seen how hard you work and I know you'd be able to do it," Mike honestly offered.

Natalie got an uncertain look, "Thanks, but I think I'll pass." She looked to the screen and then added in, "Wouldn't want to make Mary jealous."

The former security guard cringed at the comment. "Heads up, someone's trashing an office on the third floor." Mike looked just in time to see a balding man throw a potted plant at the window and shattering the entire pane. There was already paper dumped and splayed all along the floor.

"I'll go deal with him," Mike grumbled to himself and stood. It wouldn't be the first time that he had to deal with an angry employee on a rampage. " _Guess I better enjoy it while it last. At least these guys can't literally bite my head off…"_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Thirteen_

After a random night of work, Mike got the next day off and used the time to deal with his apartment issues. The morning was devoted to going over the subject of his lease with his landlady. Thankfully, on this front he managed to get some success and practically weaseled his way out with only the loss of another month's rent. Right afterwards Mike employed Jeremy's assistance and they began moving furniture in the Freddy van. They did this for a few hours until Mike was forced to stop, mostly by Jeremy who was worried about his arm.

Mike knew he was pushing it and tried to use the hand as little as possible, but was so determined to get the things moved and get everything over with. Currently he had moved his loveseat and chair into the living room along with a massive amount of boxes that were stacked in the hallway. The new living room furniture clashed dramatically with the old. An off-white loveseat, a plaid green armchair, and a dark blue couch; Mike was starting to regret his choice to ignore color when he made purchases. It all looked like a cluster of awkwardness.

But Mike was too exhausted to care. Once Jeremy had decided to call it quits and confiscate the van, for Mike's sake he claimed, the former security guard collapsed across his bed and fell asleep. It wouldn't have normally been so tiring, but overcompensating for the arm was rough. It didn't help that the pain medicine he was actually prescribed, that he finally started taking, left him much groggier than the aspirin ever had. While he was asleep, Marionette circled around the hall and living room, just staring at the sudden influx of stuff filling their shared home.

One of the boxes had a game system in it that Marionette was determined to get hooked to the television. Yet the second he actually started untangling the cords, which he noticed that Mike had not been careful to keep separated, there was a knock on the door. He normally wouldn't have really cared; Mike was asleep and he wasn't really able to answer the door. Whoever was there would come back later. But suddenly the person began to start banging on the door harder. It was much more aggressive and suddenly Marionette decided to get Mike.

He wished that this was a scenario where he could just open the door and scare whoever was there off, but, unfortunately, he couldn't risk it. Instead he headed down to the master bedroom and nudged Mike awake. The man groaned and rolled over, "What time is it?" The Puppet didn't respond, he just silently gestured down the hall. "What?" Mike seemed to suddenly detect the banging on the door and stood, wandering down the hallway towards the front. He checked out the window and saw a man standing there looking quite angry. It wasn't anyone he recognized and he groaned.

"Here we go…" Mike opened the front door and faced the man. He was older, probably in his forties, and his face looked slightly familiar. Though he was certain he never met the man. "Can I help you? If you're looking for Fredrick, he's no longer with us." He could only hope.

The man was nearly boiling, "You're Schmidt?" Mike fought the urge that he had to abruptly slam the door. 

 _"And of course he's looking for me. Someone kill me now."_ But he tried not to show any visible notion of the thought on his face. "That's me." The man took a step closer and Mike fought the urge to take a step back and, again, slam the door.

"I don't know who you are or what you're thinking getting involved in Freddy's, but I'll be damned if my family is getting dragged into it! I want you to stay away from my daughter!" Mike just stared, baffled at the sudden yelling. There was so much he probably could say, but he assumed that staying quiet was the best idea. "And another thing, if you think this community is going to sit aside and let that place open again then you can think again!"

Mike continued to stay silent and the man glared him down for a moment longer. Then he insisted, "Stay away from my girl or I'm going to be back. You got that?" Mike slowly nodded and watched as the man turned and stormed to his car, climbing in and driving off. Finally, he shut the door and locked it securely.

"He's gone," he called back and turned to see Marionette standing nearby. "I don't know what just happened, but he's gone."

Marionette began to exhibit static in a protective fashion, "But he'll be back… Next time, feel free to let him in." He then crossed over to the TV to start unwinding the wires again.

"I might not have to 'let' him," Mike pointed out. "I don't get the daughter thing, unless he thinks we'll be snatching kids or something… But this does show us one thing; we are going to have some backlash opening the pizzeria again." He suddenly realized something; nowhere was the information public. Someone had to have told this man personally.

Marionette looked back at him, turning his head without turning his body. "You don't seem like the type to let this stop you."

In all honesty, the only ones who really hadn't stopped and talked about it was Mike and Marionette. Mike was stalling for time and then eventually Marionette somehow knew, so they hadn't really stopped to think it through together. They had just let it happen.

Mike crossed over to the TV too kneel down, "Need any help?"

The Puppet continued to work and softly responded, "I think I can handle it." He was very patient with his work, untangling them gently when the other would've gotten frustrated by now and given in. Mike gave him a small smile and took one of the untangled cords.

"Let me at least get the TV wired," he pointedly did not use his broken hand. Because of this, he had to wedge himself between the wall and TV so that he didn't have to move the electronic, but still got the job done. By time he was back to check the other cords there was a frantic knock on the door. Not nearly as aggressive or angry as before, but Marionette suddenly dropped what he was doing and fully looked to the door. There was a slight glare on his face, but it was only visible on his eyes.

Mike scrambled to his feet, "Don't do anything. Just hide. I'll handle it."

The Puppet took 'hide' extremely lightly at this point. He merely moved behind the loveseat and waited, as though waiting for the right moment to spring. By time Mike got to the door he heard a quieted version of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' emanating from the living room. He opened the door and was taken aback. Not by the man, he wasn't the one standing there, but by the familiar woman.

"Mike, are you okay?! He didn't do anything, did he?!" It was Natalie; Mike suddenly knew why he recognized the man, his face somewhat resembled hers.

"That guy?"

"That was my dad. Geez, I didn't think he was going to go this far!" She stepped in and Mike looked back, seeing Marionette clearly staring from behind the loveseat. He made a gesture from him to hide and looked back to the female. "See, I was thinking about what you said about the job, and I mentioned it to my mom. We need the money, I need a better job, and I would probably be out of my other job by time you actually open. If you open. Dad heard and flipped, but I didn't think he was going to come over here! Mike, I'm so sorry." She looked incredibly upset.

"Yeah, well… Don't worry about it. He threatened me, but he didn't kill me." He would've loved to say more, but the last thing he wanted to do was offend Natalie when she was currently on his side.

She shut the door behind herself, not noticing that she had to take it out of his hands. "Wow, so this is the place you inherited. It's nice!... The furniture's a little, uh…"

Mike got an amused smirk, "It's a disaster, but at least it's comfortable enough." He tried to cover his discomfort and leaned over to see past the loveseat, only to realize that the Puppet was gone.

"How about… Some coffee? I have to heat it up, but it's fresh enough." Mike guided Natalie to the table, making sure she sat with her back to the living room, and heated her some coffee. "Sorry if I look half-dead. I was moving stuff in and out of a moving van all morning." He turned around and tried not to freeze as he noticed that Marionette was standing in the living room again. He was clearly watching Natalie, but his aggression had dissipated to his standard smile. There was no way that he could get him to leave; he just had to manage damage control.

"So how's things going with the Pizzeria opening anyway?" Natalie asked curiously.

"Well… Non-existent. Sam's going to meet with a lawyer later to see if everything's on the up and up. Technically he has to be the one who does it, since he owns all the stuff in the warehouse. The animatronics and things."

She seemed more interested, "So there are animatronics left in there? Wow. Which ones?" The former security guard tried his hardest to ignore the animatronic who currently kept moving around the room, continuing to watch them.

"Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, Foxy… But Foxy is the only one we can get on now. The plan is to make him the main character to draw in bigger crowds and to now immediately remind everyone of some of the disasters that happened there. Sam, I've mentioned Sam before probably, this guy named Jeremy, and I are going to be putting everything together."

The female got a small smirk, "What about Mary?"

Marionette perked in the background at the mention of his name. "Well, yeah… But he's closer to the attractions than to management."

"Am I going to get to meet Mary? Is he here?" Natalie abruptly turned back to the rest of the house, Mike tensed dramatically, and Marionette just vanished before she could see him.

"I don't think so. He's not here," Mike remarked, feeling a small smile slip. "But as long as your dad's not planning on killing me, the job is still yours… I don't know what the job is, but you've got it."

Natalie twiddled her fingers around the coffee mug. "Yeah… Do you know anything about what happened with those kids? I'm guessing it was some guy kidnapping kids from out front but…"

"Don't worry about it," Mike felt the words slip out. "It's been years. The Pizzeria's completely changed hands. If anything was going on than it isn't going on anymore." He was forcing the words out as he explained. "We're going to make sure there aren't any adults looming around outside. Maybe get more security cameras or something."

She got her smile back, "Hey, you know, if you're really looking for a way to get funds you might want to throw a fundraising thing. I don't know what my dad said, but fundraising always gets a lot of quick cash."

Mike tapped his fingers on the table. "Actually, that's a good idea… We were thinking of contacting some old shareholders, but that could really help if they don't want to get involved."

A few more minutes passed before the female stood to head to the door. "I'm not going to tell my dad. If he comes back today or tonight, tell him that you haven't seen me since I was in work. We'll just keep this our secret."

Mike reacted oddly to the word 'secret', with an inward shiver. "Sounds fine by me. Hopefully we'll have more of a plan on how this is going to work out."

"Never thought I'd be working at the Pizzeria," Natalie pointed out as she opened the front door.

"It's been a rocky road, but it's all downhill from here… Or it will be once we actually get the place open." Something was nagging at him.

"Don't worry. My dad… He's got his own problems and he takes it out on everyone. He's not even connected to Freddy's!" She seemed slightly amused as she stepped out. "Tell Mary I send my regards!" Mike shut the door and leaned against it, finding himself more bothered than ever. Marionette appeared again and looked to Mike.

He tilted his head curiously, seeing that something was wrong. Suddenly it had hit Mike,  _"I'm giving her a job and lying to her. She's my friend and I'm lying to her, just like they lied to me."_

Without a word, Mike opened the door once again and stepped out, hurrying to Natalie before she could get in the car. "Wait!" She looked over in confusion and he exhaled slowly. "Alright, look… There's something else." He bit his lip until there was a salty, slightly metallic taste in his mouth. "I'm… Some of the things floating around about the Pizzeria were true."

She slowly looked to him in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Mike pointed to the car and crossed to the passenger side, climbing inside and sitting down. Natalie sat down and shut the door, leaving them alone in the car.

"You really want to take this job. Someone has to take the job and you're one of the people I can trusts. I… I do trust you and you won't tell your folks." He looked to her, she nodded, and Mike huffed a bit. "So how do I put this… Look, there were some things going on in the Pizzeria that weren't exactly… The missing children was an inside job."

"What?" Natalie's eyes widened.

"It was one of the workers who did it and there was some sort of big cover-up, but the animatronics became... They changed. They became aggressive towards the workers. They started to attack the night guards."

Natalie got a brief look of disbelief, "Please tell me this is a joke… And if it is, it's a really unfunny one."

Mike's face was dead serious, "The worker who did it had an accident. I won't give you the details, I know you probably want to sleep again. This was after the Pizzeria closed so it was easier to hide…" He shrugged a little, "It was as though they were trying to stop him, you know. When I was working there they thought I was him because I was a night guard. They tried to get me, but I lived… And kept going back… It was a money thing." He would rather just say that then get any awkward questions about it. Natalie was already staring at him. "…And before you ask, the animatronics that are still active are safe. We're doing this whole thing legitimately; no scams, no tricks, no incidents." He fell silent and checked her face.

"…Wow." Natalie tapped the steering wheel and said nothing else.

Mike followed suit to look out the window, "And there's probably more things that I don't know. All the pieces haven't fully clicked, which usually either means that one's missing or that I'm shoving one in the wrong spot… But I'm not looking for answers anymore. It's just not worth it."

The blond female now quietly added in, "There's someone in your house." The former security guard leaned forward to peer out of the windshield and towards the window.

There was an opening in the blinds, but it was too dark to see who did it. It was obviously Marionette; Mike knew that much. He took this as a sign to wrap everything up. "I understand if you don't want the job anymore, I just wanted you to know everything before going in. Just… Don't mention this to anybody, alright? If word got out, we'd have an investigation going on and the animatronics wouldn't take to that. We'd have more bites now then whatever happened back in 87." He then opened the door and stepped out.

"No, I won't…" Natalie finally looked to him. "This is a lot to take in. I don't… I don't know what I'm going to do. Just let me think on it."

Mike gave a nod and shut the door. He then crossed over and headed back inside, watching as the car pulled off. He knew he had just made a risky move relying on Natalie, but hoped it wasn't a mistake. Marionette was waiting behind the front door when Mike shut it. "Alright, that's over… Let me just finish hooking that up." He tried to act casual as he wandered over, crouched down, and began to plug the untangled wires in.

The Puppet was incredibly silent and Mike exhaled. "I brought Natalie to speed on some of the stuff going on around here. About some of the stuff that happened in the Pizzeria. Not everything; just the stuff that could get us all arrested." He shrugged it off and moved the box closer to look through for a game to use for practice on the system. Then Marionette moved closer; by now he was just behind Mike and wrapped his arms around his shoulders in a sort of hug.

" _This is when he strangles me again, right?"_ Mike mentally questioned and looked back. "What's this for?"

Marionette didn't look angry, which he took as a good sign. "You told her about me."

The human shrugged a little, "We got hours to kill and you just happened to call about the cupcakes." This wasn't the reaction he had expected. He had expected anger and he had already seen his typical behavior around guests, which was usually following them around the house without being spotted.

"But you gave her my name," he sounded like he was thrilled. Mike didn't get it, but was just relieved that he wasn't upset too. He silently finished setting up the system.

"I've got a couple in here you might like. Not all of them are two players and my second controller is half-broken, so I'm just going to start you off with something on your own."

Marionette finally released Mike and moved beside him, "You'll have to teach me. I've only played arcade games." The box was nudged closer as Mike started checking the cartridges.

"It's basically a little arcade machine that you don't have to put tokens or coins in. You'll catch on quickly." He stopped on two cartridges and just stared at them, eyes flickering back and forth at them.

"Are they all the same?" Marionette questioned as he took a cartridge. "If they play the same way then any of them should be fine."

Mike glanced over at the one in his hand. "You're not going to want that one. The game cheats." He then placed another one in the system, "We'll start with this. It'll get you used to all the basics." He started the game and eventually handed over the controller. "You jump with this button. You can pick up enemies with this if you're standing on top of them, but they'll damage you if you just run into them. Don't fall into any holes."

This seemed simple enough to Marionette who quickly grasped the controls. However, he never expected what was coming next.

"You just want to stick with the green guy. He's the best character to use."

Then, "Remember to get the weeds. See that one on the right? Get that one."

And still, "Watch out for the masks."

Then, "Try picking up that guy and throw him at the bird."

And still, "No, you don't want that power up. It really doesn't do anything."

Then, "Slow down, you're going to fall in a hole."

And finally, "Not that slow."

By this point the Puppet was absolutely unimpressed with Mike's dictating behavior. By time he finished the second level, and he had only completed two levels before he couldn't take anymore, he had enough.

"Mike, you're puppeteering me," he hoped Mike would get the hint.

Mike got an amused smirk, "I thought you liked when I pulled your strings." For a second the animatronic didn't respond, but his voice returned when the former security guard pointed out. "The boss is on this next level. You're going to have to watch out for him."

"I'm playing a different character," Marionette announced and selected one of the others.

"Why? You're doing fine with him!... Don't choose that one. She's pretty slow." The black and white animatronic promptly chose the character in question. Mike frowned at him, Marionette pointedly stared back. "Oh, I get it. Fine, I won't help you anymore." If Mike was trying to get something out of saying this then it didn't work.

"Thank you," Marionette responded and returned to playing the game.

Mike rolled his eyes and stood, "I need to call Sam anyway."

* * *

It was a late night and Fritz was about to leave. He had just turned off the lights in the warehouse and was starting to shut down the computer and check the security cameras one last time. Nobody would be here to watch them, but at least if anyone broke in he could catch them on tape. Right as he was about to shut everything down he heard the sound of movement from out in the storage room. He shined his flashlight down the hall and into the entrance, not wanting to go over and turn the light on. From this distance he couldn't see anything.

Shrugging it off as Foxy moving around, Sam continued working and finally was preparing to go. Right as he stood to leave, shutting off the monitor, he heard the sounds of quick, heavy footsteps. His head raised in alert and he stared forwards in shock. It was definitely Foxy making a run for the office and Fritz choked as he turned the monitor back on. It took a few minutes to boot on again and Foxy was on his way. Fritz looked around in terror, trying to figure out if there was a fake Freddy head nearby, which there certainly wasn't.

" _It's not going to work! The light's my only chance!"_ He turned on the flashlight and aimed it towards the hall, just in time to see Foxy barreling down the hallway. He shined the light forward but it didn't do anything to stop the animatronic. Foxy was in the office in a second and slid to a halt against the desk, hook landing on the other side of the desk to fully brace him. It dug into the wood of the desk, showing how sharp it truly was. Fritz had always thought it was plastic; either he was mistake or someone had changed it.

But he could only stare at how unnerving Foxy was. The animatronic stared him down for a few second, patch raised, eyeing the technician. Then it suddenly brought its claw out of the wood, lowered its patch, and then started to shuffle off down the hallway as though nothing had happened. Fritz checked the monitor that had finally came on and watched through the dim light as Foxy disappeared back under his curtain. He didn't even wait to see if he stayed there; as quickly as he could he shut the computer back down and hurried out of the warehouse, locking the door behind him.

* * *

"I haven't been back to the warehouse today," the frazzled technician explained over the phone. "I don't even think I can go back there tonight, and I'm going to have to. I can't leave it unattended for a whole day. Foxy could have gotten into the office again."

Mike choked, "Fritz, Foxy has attacked you  _twice_ and you're afraid about the office?! What were you doing- Wearing purple or something?"

Sam let out a bitter cough, "I could only be so lucky. I don't know… And I can't expect Jeremy to head over there either."

The former security guard rubbed his head, "I see what you're getting at. I'll head over there and check on things, but I'm not staying past dark. How did things go with the lawyer?"

The male perked on the phone, "Good… Well, not all good, but we sort of need Jeremy here. I don't want to go over it twice and it's… There's an issue we need to go over."

Mike didn't sound as enthusiastic as one would expect, "Keep being vague. That should help us figure it out." The way Sam huffed revealed how tired and exasperated he was.

"Alright, Mike, I'll tell you what the problem is. The building is absolutely not up to code. Demolition or not, there's no way we can scrounge together enough cash to get that building together. The roof's full of holes, the walls are putty, the appliances smoke, and you don't even want to know what's in the water." He reigned himself in then.

Mike just blankly stood there, holding the cell phone. "…I'll call you when I'm done at the warehouse. Then we'll find Jeremy and figure this out."

Fritz exhaled quietly and agreed with him. "Thank you," then they ended the call.

Mike stood and headed towards the door. "I'm heading over to check on Foxy. I'll be back in a little while, don't answer the door, and don't play that game. I'm warning you now, it's going to piss you off."

Marionette actually stopped playing to look back, leaning on the couch. "Be careful with your hand. Foxy can be a little… High strung."

Mike smirked visibly, "It must run in the family then. See you later." The Puppet watched him leave with that same smile he usually had. He made sure he was gone, that he heard the car in the driveway, then turned away…

And looked to the forbidden game cartridge.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Fourteen_

As far as Mike was concerned, he didn't need to be here. The warehouse was untouched as he entered in and turned on the lights. He looked over the office with a hum, turning on the monitor before stepping out into the main room. The high lights alit the entire warehouse in a sharp glow which left it less than creepy. He wandered down the stretch of the aisle with a soft whistle on his lips. He directed himself back to the animatronic holding room and flicked on the light inside. Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica had still not moved and he left to find Foxy.

He was in the curtained area that had been created for him. Mike cautiously pushed the curtain open and looked inside. The Pirate was standing there watching him, twitching lightly, but didn't make any attempt to move towards or away.

"Hey Foxy," Mike greeted with a smile. "Let's check that arm. Look, we match," he raised his arm. He hoped that talking in a calm voice and reassuring him would keep the animatronic passive. Foxy's ears raised and lowered, making squeaking noises as they did. He twitched again as Mike continued to close in, reaching out to touch his arm. Mike angled it to move forwards and out, listening for any popping noises or watching for any strange movements. It seemed like Fritz had done a good enough job with it.

"Everything's looking good here, Captain," the former security guard reassured and gave an amused chuckle. "I'm glad to see it after what happened the other day. You know, you used to be my favorite back when-." Foxy suddenly yanked his arm away and started to walk out of the curtain in a quick walk, leaving Mike watching after him. "Uh… Foxy?" The animatronic was out of sight in an instance.

He pushed through the curtains and could see a glimpse of red fabric through the nearby shelves. Mike followed behind, wondering what had spurned on the animatronic. The animatronic seemed to have vanished so Mike returned to the office to check the cameras. Eventually he spotted Foxy near the back wall, half obscured by another shelf. He seemed to know about the cameras as he was clearly standing in a blind spot. Deciding to let it go, Mike reclined in the office chair and attempted to kill time without worrying about what Foxy was doing.

If this was what Fritz was worried about then Mike was sorely disappointed. Foxy was acting strange, but there wasn't any sort of immediate threat in its motions. It was sort of like Marionette's motions in a way. Maybe he was trying to also return to a routine.  _"Or maybe I'm spending too much time with Mari,"_ he considered. For a little while it seemed like nothing was going to happen. Then there was a banging noise from inside of the warehouse that alerted him. He jumped, heart racing, and checked the monitor to see where the noise came from.

A cardboard box holding old animatronic parts was laying on the floor on its side. From the position it seemed to have fallen off of the shelf, but with Foxy completely absent he couldn't understand if it was him or not. Regardless, Mike headed to the box and looked over the scene. No broken shelf, no Foxy, no visible way that it could have fallen. He was confused but unconcerned and bent down to put the tools in the box. Once he was finished he nudged it to the side instead of putting it back on the shelf. Then he turned to head back at the office.

Except now there was a trail of paper sprawled on the floor behind him. He hadn't even heard anything and stared at it blankly.

"… _That wasn't Foxy."_

It couldn't have been him, he would've heard him. He took a step forwards only to hear a 'thunk' and suddenly see more papers plummeting down from above. He was able to step out of the way and looked closer, unable to see where they came from.

"Foxy, if you're up there or something-!" His voice cut off as something rolled off of a lower shelf and fell onto the floor, rolling to a stop in front of him. It looked like an animatronic head, though made of hard material and sphere shaped. All of the inside parts were removed, leaving gaping eyes and a mouth staring back at him. He felt his blood pressure raise as his hands clenched into fists and he took a step back, watching the head carefully. The second he stepped out of the isle he turned on his heel and headed towards the curtained area. Even though it was opposite from the door, which was beyond more unsettling isles, he felt the panicked urge to be around Foxy. After all, Foxy had protected him before.

There was a louder bang as something fell from a closer shelf. It sounded louder as it hit the floor and Mike broke into a sort of jog. He then burst into the curtained area where Foxy stood, looking to him. As though it couldn't get any more confusing, Foxy did something that Mike had yet to see or hear: he spoke.

" _Yar, welcome to Pirate's Cove! Climb aboard and we'll be shippin' off fer adventures on the mighty blue!"_ Foxy suddenly announced and raised his hook.  _"But be warned, there be rough waves on the deep. This ain't an adventure fer Landlubbers!"_

Mike stared with his mouth agape,  _"Did his programming just kick in now?"_ It didn't even sound like it made sense. Foxy, who was just shuffling around acting strange, had suddenly began to speak. Or at least, began playing the voice clips he once played for children. "Okay… Anything that keeps me from going out there again."

Foxy apparently recognized this as a confirmation and let out a hearty laugh, one that was crackling like a fire. He then turned around and wandered around the curtained area. Finally, he found a placemat that had been brought in and scooped it into his grasp.  _"The map shall lead the way to the buried treasure!"_ From what Mike could see, it was one of those placemats with a maze drawn on it so that kids could scribble on it while waiting for food. Not really any sort of usable map, it didn't even look like one, and yet Foxy fully followed it out.

At first the Security Guard followed at a distance, not trusting this sudden change in behavior from the animatronic. Though the second that he got what he considered was a safe distance he could feel something like breath on his neck. There was nothing there behind him, but gusts of musty, hot air was on the back of his neck. It smelled like mold with a tinge of copper. Mike quickened his pace and noticed that the closer he got to Foxy, the more the smell and feeling backed down behind him. It didn't seem like Foxy could notice whatever was happening.

So Mike loyally followed Foxy around the aisles as he continued to babble out various voice recordings and search for non-existent treasure. Mike would've enjoyed this more if he didn't feel so threatened by the force that was clearly trailing him through the warehouse. To his luck, Foxy eventually staggered past the hall to the office and Mike started inside.

"Sorry, Foxy, but I'm going to have to abandon the search. I'm needed elsewhere." It was about time to get home and as far away from this warehouse as he could possibly get.

" _Leavin' so soon, Matey? Come back soon, or Captain Foxy will have you scrubbing the deck!"_ He then laughed, the voice sounded perfectly fine. Though the body movements were drastically different. He started to follow Mike down towards the office with an obvious hurriedness in his gait. Right as Mike was shutting everything down, checking the monitor a last time, Foxy spoke again.  _"Come back- To Pirate's Cove, where we shall be setting off for adventure!"_ This was a clash of recordings from the change in tone and Mike stared.

"I've… Got to leave, Foxy. The others are waiting for me." Yet Foxy clashed recordings yet again.  _"_

 _Come back- or Captain Foxy will have- walking the plank! Come back- to search for treasure!"_ It was the closest thing that Mike got to verbal confirmation that Foxy wanted him to stay in the warehouse. It baffled him, but also intrigued him. Could it be that Foxy was just as sentient as Marionette was, but was having difficulty expressing it?

As unnerved as he was, Mike found himself too curious to leave. Not now that Foxy was speaking to him. "…Alright, twenty more minutes."

* * *

The sound of cars pulling into the driveway went ignored as the sound of tapping buttons was muted by static. Then it was all ended by the same scene that had flickered on many times before; the game over screen. The tune of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' broke out and Marionette launched forward, preparing to snatch the cartridge out of the game system and deal with it. Yet right as his black fingers were about to touch it there was a knock on the door. He stopped in place, still glaring at the forsaken cartridge, slowly looking over towards the window.

He drew himself off of the floor and over to peer out of the shades, not hiding his clear glare and instead trying to wipe away the tears of frustration that were shed of sheer anger. He recognized the Freddy van and a car that he didn't see before. Looking to the side, he could see Sam and Jeremy standing the door. Marionette wasn't even enthused, letting the slate closed and inwardly lamenting his choice to be civil to these people. Regardless of what Mike said, Mike wasn't here on time anyway, Marionette unlocked the door from a distance.

He forced his normal smile back and watched as the door slowly opened.

"Mike?" Sam called in and entered into the house. Jeremy followed him in and the second he did, Marionette felt his body revert to his default stance. This was a hard habit to break, especially around those who were more strangers than others, which Jeremy certainly was. Sam noticed the Puppet standing there almost immediately and paused from entering the house. "Hey, uh, Mari… Did Mike get back yet?" he was clearly still testing his ground, even after what happened in the van.

Marionette actually preferred it like this. He didn't want Sam getting too comfortable too quickly, nor Jeremy, nor any other possible friend of Mike. The only exception was Mike himself who Marionette was already comfortable keeping at arm's length. He tried to answer Sam's question, but his voice would not come out while the third male stood there. He forced his head to turn in a shake. "I was wondering why his car wasn't in the driveway. You don't mind us sticking around until he gets here, right?" He was answered with another stiff shake of the head.

"I can wait in the car," Jeremy offered, but the technician wrangled him in.

"It's fine, Jere, just sit down and stay away from the coffee." Sam headed past the animatronic into the living room. "I never really took Mike for the gamer type… Is something wrong? You look a little stiff." Marionette begrudgingly shook his head again and watched Jeremy out of the corner of his eye. The second he turned away to get some tap water, the Puppet dropped to the floor in front of the couch. Which startled and confused Sam, but Marionette cared less about what he thought.

It was either act strange or be stuck in the habit of staying still, so he chose the former. Sam shrugged it off and glanced at the game system, then looked back towards Jeremy. "You want to play a game or something to kill time?"

Jeremy shuffled anxiously in the kitchen, "Ah… I guess not…"

The technician shrugged it off and looked to Marionette, "How about you?" Funny, Marionette wasn't sure if he would count them to be on casual terms yet, but he decided to respond. He gave a motion like a shrug, but he sort of slumped against the couch. Sam began to look through the cartridges. "Doesn't like there's really any two player games anyway… I don't even know what half of these are. Either I'm getting old or Mike's got a weird taste in games." He looked at the cartridge in the system and then glanced at the television which showed the game still playing and shrugged, taking the controller to start.

"You don't mind?" Marionette shook his head. No, he didn't mind, if the inward amusement was any sign. The technician had no idea what he was about to get himself into.

* * *

Helping Foxy or not, Mike was starting to get bored out of his mind. Hours of the same repeated activity was starting to drive him insane. It didn't help that at some point Foxy ran out of new lines and started to sing. Or it was sort of singing; Mike recognized it from back at the pizzeria from one or two different nights. It was basically just Foxy going, " _Dum da dum diddly dum."_ Though in a horrible twist of fate he never stopped. For at least an hour, though the human could've thought it lasted that long, he just sang endlessly whether they were walking or in the curtains.

Once it got dark outside the other activity only increased as well. Lights started flickering, random music from a music player lost somewhere would play and halt, and things were being rearranged when he wasn't watching them. He witnessed a box be on a shelf, then not on the shelf, then on a different shelf, then in the aisle, and the loudly falling to the ground outside the curtain when they were back in the Cove area. Mike checked his watch,  _"It's that late already? I'm going to have to get out of here soon… Or I'm going to lose it."_ He tapped his foot and considered calling Sam again.

He had called about an hour beforehand and the technician didn't answer. He assumed that he and Jeremy had already gone home by now, but was sure he could explain the situation later. He had suffered enough in his own opinion. Gathering his nerve, Mike stood and started to the curtain, "Alright, Captain, this time I really do have to leave." He stepped through and stepped over the endoskeleton arm laying on the floor.

As expected, Foxy began to follow him at a distance, though Mike preferred this. " _Leaving so soon, Matey? Come back- To Pirate's Cove. Come back- To Pirate's Cove."_

Foxy had become only blunter over the hours and was not trying to hide what he wanted Mike to do. It had once been comical, but now it was pretty unsettling, especially when Foxy occasionally said things that sounded like threats.

"Sorry, Foxy. I've overstayed my welcome. I have to go." He knew there was going to be a fight so he brought out his keys, deciding just to leave the office how it was and merely pass through to go to the door.

" _There's lots of treasure out on the- Pirate's Cove. Come back- Or you'll walk the plank!"_ Suddenly Foxy broke into a sprint and Mike started to run as well.

"Flattery's not getting you anywhere!" he called back as he dashed down the hall and to the door. He was out the door and trying to close it when Foxy caught it with his hook. His voice was a jumbled mess as he tried to yank it open. His strength was intense, but Mike fought back with his hands tightly on the knob. A few moments of struggling commenced before the human blurted out. "Damn it, Foxy, I stayed with you all night! If I don't get home I'm going to have Marionette wringing-!"

The hook slipped back and Foxy released the door, allowing Mike to suddenly slam it and stare at the result. "…My neck." He took it as a blessing and rushed to the car.

Once he was driving home it occurred to him that maybe Foxy's behavior was less than innocent. "He could've been trying to stall me until Midnight. That's when they'd set off before, maybe he knows that or maybe it has something to do with whatever was going on… 'Hey, Fritz, just got back in. Foxy didn't try killing me, but he nearly bored me to death. By the way, watch your head. Stuff keeps flying off of the shelves'." He mockingly voiced with a huff of weariness as he continued towards the house.

He needed to get away from the warehouse. Unlike the Pizzeria, there was a slim chance he would be coming back here a second night. Like the Pizzeria, though, he had a feeling that he probably didn't have a choice in the matter.

* * *

"Why did I pick up this thing?! It doesn't even kill anything!" Jeremy's grip on the controller was shaking as he glared at the television.

In the last while he had made the horrible mistake of moving into the living room to try the game, right when Sam had giving up. The technician was watching over his shoulder, eating a cupcake, "Watch out for the flying imps. The fire's probably not going to kill them." Thus Sam had efficiently started doing the same thing Mike had done before he had left. Marionette was now on the loveseat watching the scene.

Then the game over screen returned with a vengeance. Jeremy dropped the controller and stood, "That's it. I'm leaving." The other two watched him storm over to the door. "Mike just isn't coming back and I need some air. See you later." With those flat statements he stormed out the front door.

"…That was sudden," Sam casually remarked.

Marionette eased and slid to the floor, "Oh, I saw it coming. Let's just put this where it belongs…" He switched off the game and took out the cartridge, disposing it into the box carelessly.

"I've known Jeremy for years, in a way, and that's the first time he's flipped like that…" He finished the cupcake. "I guess I'm going too. If you could, tell Mike that I'll call him back… Or I'll see him if he's still stuck over in the warehouse."

Marionette lost interest in the game system and looked back towards the technician who stood. Now that Jeremy was out of the way he wasn't afraid of talking freely. "What exactly was it that you needed to tell Mike so urgently? I'm just curious." He turned to face him and Sam considered it.

"Well… Earlier I called Mike about the Pizzeria's condition." The Puppet chimed in, "I know. I heard you then." "Good, then I don't have to repeat myself," Sam pointed out as he mentally noted that he needed to start watching his phone calls a bit more carefully. "I found another place that's perfect. It's not quite the size of the Pizzeria, but it's a closed restaurant that has a working kitchen and is in good condition. Most of everything we would have to do is really appearance based, except maybe put in a stage." He almost sounded excited before he faltered.

"But this means that we'll need to actually buy the place and as it's looking, we don't have the means." He apparently took Marionette's listening as a sign to vent. "Even with fundraising options, I don't know if it's going to be enough. Even if I get two jobs, if we all get two jobs, it might not be enough. We could get a loan, but that- Eh." He waved it off, "Don't worry about that. Just, when Mike gets back, tell him that we found a possible location and that if he has any ideas on this fundraising thing then we need to start getting things together." He shuffled around before heading towards the door, "And, uh, thanks for the cupcake."

That certainly made Marionette's mood rise, but once Fritz was gone, he was left with his thoughts again. Thankfully, he found a semi-solution rather quickly.

* * *

Mike pulled into the driveway and noticed right away that there were no other cars besides his own. He wasn't surprised that the others already left, just disappointed that he couldn't get back in time. The entire Foxy event was still heavy in his mind as he headed to the front door and let himself in.

"I'm home!" he called and glanced around. Most of the lights were off, except for the glow of the TV from the living room. There weren't any games being played and he glanced over the back at the couch onto the floor. Nobody was there.

"Mari?" There was no response and at first he thought that maybe Marionette just wound the music box and went to bed. He stopped to wash his face off and then headed towards the master bedroom to change, but stopped in the doorway. A soft thump echoed down from the ceiling. Mike suspected it was from the attic, and considering that the closet doors were ajar this would make sense. He moved over to it, climbing onto the file cabinet and raising his head into the attic. It was impossible to see anything and he fumbled down for his flashlight.

When he raised his head and flickered on the flashlight he was suddenly hit with the sight of Marionette kneeling in front of him. He jumped back but clutched his flashlight, already uneasy from the warehouse. "Could you have warned me? You're practically on top of me!" The Puppet seemed merely amused by the comment as the attic flickered to light, Mike seeing the light switch on the wall. "…That would've helped me the last time I was here." He started to drag himself into the attic. "You weren't hiding any bodies in here, I hope."

To answer him, Marionette coaxed him back to what was clearly a safe off to the side. It had been covered by a sheet so Mike hadn't seen it when he was here before. He moved in for a better look as Marionette spoke. "The combination is zero, seven, two, one." Mike glanced to him, seemingly getting the go ahead, and unlocked the safe to find some things inside.

A thick orange envelope caught his attention as he pulled it out and looked inside through it. His eyes widened, "Why was Fredrick hiding a stash of money up here?" He then looked to the animatronic. "This isn't like Fredrick's 'flee the country' money, right?" The fact that Fredrick would have money in case of such was incredibly suspicious.

Marionette chimed in a chuckle, "If he did then he probably has it hidden in some sort of nook in the Pizzeria. For now, this is mine, and I want you to have it." Mike's brows furrowed as Marionette reached out to nudge the safe closed.

"You have hundreds of dollars just sitting in the attic… Oh, you really were stealing from the Pizzeria! I'm impressed, I'm guessing you weren't caught," he was only partially joking.

"It doesn't really matter to me. I don't have anything I need to buy," he shrugged it off. "This is what was left of my life insurance policy after the burial. My father put it in here after I came back to him and gave me the combination. I didn't understand why at the time, but I'm assuming that the reason would have to involve you." He pushed on the envelope to push it closer to Mike. "And now I'm giving it to you. Your friend found a building that would work better than the Pizzeria. This has to help at least a little."

"It's going to do more than that..." Mike's face broke into a smile and he looked to the Puppet. For a few seconds he tried to figure out what motion he was planning on making, but the reached out to link an arm around the Puppet. He knew the risks, and as expected Marionette eagerly latched onto him. Once he released the human he moved back towards the hatch out of the attic, eager Mike lingered by the safe.

"Is there anything else in this safe worth looking at…?" he asked with a hesitant undertone. Marionette took a few seconds to answer.

"Not exactly, but you are free to look if you want." Mike responded by reopening the safe and sorting through the papers. Marionette silently exited the attic, suddenly feeling uncomfortable being in the room while Mike read whatever things his father had sealed behind. Soon he came back down and asked no questions about whatever he read. Marionette considered this a blessing and finally the evening returned to its normal routine.

Almost.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Fifteen_

_With a gasping choke he sat upwards in bed and stared across the dark bedroom. His nightlight barely illuminated any of the shadowy corners. The only thing really visible was the corner by the door, his nightstand, his music box, and he slid out from under the covers. He crept to the door and slowly creaked it open, relieved to have it open easily to him. In the faded light he could see the grandfather clock on the other side of the hallway, looming in the darkness as it chimed out the signal that it was indeed midnight. He didn't shut his door as he headed down the hallway._

_The light was on in the kitchen and he looked in to see his father standing at the counter fast at work. It looked like he was cooking something, but it seemed odd to be cooking so late. He moved a little closer when his father suddenly looked back. "_

_What are you doing awake so late? It's past your bedtime." He had a friendly smile and it relieved his son. "Let's get you back to bed. You have a long day tomorrow." He took his hand and began to lead him back down the hall. For a moment the son felt relief, but as he looked back to the kitchen he was uneasy._

_There was a plastic sheet covering whatever his father was preparing and while he couldn't see it, he had an uncomfortable suspicion that it was meat. His father guided him into his bedroom and watched him as he got back in bed._

_Now Dad needs to finish some things, Sport," he started to wind the music box again. He wanted to tell him that he was scared and wanted to ask to stay with him. He wanted to follow his father out the door as well, but as his father slowly turned around he suddenly felt very unsafe. "There you go. All set for the night."_

_This wasn't how his father usually spoke, how his father usually acted, and he watched him head to the door and step out. The second the door shut he could hear the whispers from outside, two voices instead of one, but he couldn't make out any words. It was just his father talking to someone. For a second he wondered if it was his brother and started to inch out of bed. The second his ankle got close to the edge of the bed, a hook suddenly appeared and hooked onto it, holding his leg tightly to the bed. He tried to yank his leg away weakly as the hook held him._

_Slowly a familiar figure started to slide into view out from under the bed. There was Foxy… Or most of him. The animatronic was missing his head and left a gaping hole where his neck once was. Once he was about at the same height as his prey, he began to tilt forwards until he could see right into the neck. A child's face stared back at him. One that looked almost like his brother's except younger and with wide smile on his face. His mouth opened slowly and revealed an empty void inside. Out of echoed a howling groan, like wind down an empty tunnel._

_The son cried out and turned over, trying to drag himself out of the fox's grasp. It gave a grisly, echoed laugh as it watched him struggle. His leg was released and he collapsed to the floor, scurrying to the door and grabbing onto the handle. He tried desperately to get the door open but the handle didn't even turn. It was locked from the other side. He started to bang his fists on the door desperately, trying to get some sort of attention from his father. His voice wouldn't respond under any circumstances and his arms started to give out. He dared to look back._

_Foxy had disappeared into the shadows. This made it a lot less urgent, but it didn't change the predicament the he was in. He pressed his back to the door and brought his knees to his chest, weeping as he studied the room carefully. There didn't seem to be anything askew but he knew something was still wrong. It was interrupted by a soft tapping on the door and a soft 'psst' noise. He turned to listen against the door._

_His father's voice echoed through, "You can't save them all, Sport. Sometimes you have to just pull the plug."_

_The second he said this the night light suddenly died and a sharp beeping noise screeched in his ears. The son went into a frenzy and stumbled around before getting back to the door and trying it. This time the bedroom door swung open and revealed the state of the house outside. The hallway was cold and the floor was soaking wet. However, there was still the sound of movement in the kitchen, so he assumed this meant that his father was still there. He hurried down the hall, passing midway through the living room before he saw that it wasn't his father._

_The large form of Chica stood in the kitchen as though waiting to ambush him. The second it saw him she began to stagger out of the kitchen. The son turned on his heel and started towards his father's bedroom instead. Halfway down the hall, Foxy jumped out of an open doorway, swinging his claw and trying to catch their victim. he continued to the master bedroom and hurried inside, slamming the door behind him. For a second he sat there like that, then dared to turn away. He regretted it immediately._

_What he hadn't seen when first entering the bedroom was the closet, the doors open and a light seemingly emanating from it, and the figure of his father inside. The man was strung by wires around his neck and arms, slouching against them and not moving, and dark fluid leaked from his fingertips. The son stared numbly for a few moments and then looked to the window. He knew he had to escape and hurried over to try and open it. The glass pane slid upwards slowly under his weak strength and by time it got about halfway he heard a strange noise from behind him._

_He turned his head just enough to see what was happening; the wires on his father had spread and were now crawling around the bed and trying to reach him. He continued to raise the window higher and tried to squeeze through. The second his head was out, his ankles were tethered by the wires, climbing his body. He struggled against them as they climbed his arms, him inching just a small bit out the window. So close to freedom. So close to escaping the hold of the house. The wires climbed his neck and a tube of plastic appeared at his mouth, trying to push past his lips._

_In one instance he got further and in that moment the wires suddenly released him, dropping him into a puddle of mud that pooled underneath the window. He didn't waste a second before he began crawling through the wet grass and stood to run down the sidewalk into the pouring rain. He didn't remember it being behind the house, but it seemed to be the only option he had for getting away. The path led him down through various backyards and parks, where multiple children played limply on the equipment. They lolled through the motions, with somber faces and grayed skin._

_While he didn't approach the children, he didn't fear them. He didn't feel like he was able to approach them and knew they couldn't help him._

" _ **Where are you?!"**_

_The voice suddenly broke out from the night, from far behind him. He quickened his pace again as the voice called afterwards. It was familiar, but he couldn't recognize it beyond the knowledge that he was dangerous. That he would eagerly hurt him. The park area was left behind for a stretch of concrete, a parking lot, and he knew he had to hide wherever he could. This was the only reason why when he saw the Pizzeria he didn't turn and flee. He could hear head footsteps and a creaking metal that came with them, thumping across the parking lot._

_The front door was left ajar for him. His plan was to hide once inside, but all of the furniture in the Pizzeria was gone. No tables, no chairs, and even the other rooms had their entrances boarded. It was a straight shot into the dark Pizzeria and he continued inside quickly. The door slammed shut behind him and he almost preferred it, hoping it would keep out the one who was following him. He walked aimlessly in the dark for a short way with his arms stretched out. The tile floor was cold… And wet._

_Light broke through the darkness and shined down in the center of the room. Directly in front of him, no more than fifteen feet away, was the slouched form of Fredbear. Its eyes were empty, its mouth was agape, and there was so much blood. This was the first sight of blood that he had seen and it sent a jolt of fear through his body. It was caked around Fredbear's mouth and down his front, then pooled between his legs. So much blood that it didn't seem possible that someone could bleed it._

_"_ _**Hey** _ _," a voice echoed through the restaurant, "_ _**Why don't you give him a big kiss?** _ _"_

_This was the last thing he wanted. He tried walking into the darkness but found nothing, and he never got any further away from Fredbear. He knew that this wasn't going to end until he moved closer. He took a step, two, hearing his pulse pounding in his ears along with the low sound of his music box winding down. He moved onto the puddle between Fredbear's legs and stared at his face. It stared back for only a moment. Then it struck, its arms suddenly clamping down on his body and yanking him closer. He couldn't even scream as it opened its mouth and guided him in._

_It didn't stop at his head as he found himself being devoured whole by the monstrous bear. A tight confined space enclosed him as cords tangled around his body. He desperately struggled until he suddenly jolted, the music halting, and he_ recognized the square space surrounding him. In a desperate dash, he flung himself out of the box, dragging himself onto the carpeted floor in a frenzy. He was disoriented, a wreck, but the room was quiet and safe. He was entirely safe and he knew this, but the dream still clung to him like the wires had.

Marionette had not had an actual nightmare like this since before he was a Puppet. That alone left him feeling weak and yet he knew there was nothing he could do. 

_"_ _Sometimes you have to just pull the plug."_

* * *

Mike awoke to the sound of his alarm clock and groaned, slamming his hand onto it in an attempt to silence it. It was back to work at an earlier shift and he was not looking forward to it. Slowly he sat up, deciding that he preferred coffee and actually making it to work on time instead of trying to sleep longer. He rubbed his face as he sat there and only barely noticed something beside the bed. He leaned over just a bit and looked down beside the bed. Further down, slightly sticking out from under the bed, was a small amount of striped fabric.

He started to move over closer and the fabric moved fully under the bed. Mike blinked in confusion, murmuring a soft 'what' to himself, and got out of bed. He knelt down beside it and leaned to look underneath. There was the Puppet laying under the bed. Mike noticed its face was different, though it would have been difficult to miss the complete lack of a smile.

"Morning…. Is there any reason why you're down there?" Marionette didn't move or respond at first. "Are you coming out?" He shuffled a little, pulling his legs in closer, turning his head further towards the floor. "Okay. I'm just going to get dressed…"

Mike moved back and went to change into his uniform. It wasn't as though there was much else he could do anyway and expected that the animatronic would eventually slide out from under the bed and reveal himself. By time Mike was finished though, Marionette was still under the bed and had made no attempt to come out from underneath. It was even more confusing since Mike hadn't heard him come in during the night and certainly didn't understand why he had moved under the bed. Not when he laid on the bed before.

Mike looked under once again, "So I'm going to have to go to work. You're welcome to stay down here if you really want. Want me to get your music box or…?" Marionette reacted with an immediate, firm shake of his head. He didn't want to sleep and this was his only clue. With a patient exhale, the security guard finally reached under the bed. "Alright, you're coming out. Don't struggle." The Puppet tried to fidget away, but Mike got ahold of his arm and slid him closer, then was able to coax him out a bit more. He stopped once his upper half was freed.

"So what exactly happened last night?" Mike asked. They went from virtually nothing wrong to this in only a matter of hours; something was definitely wrong. "Don't start giving me the silent treatment now, I know- Did you tie yourself to something?" He could see the wires leading under the bed and was incredibly unimpressed at the others stubbornness. "Did something happen? Did you have a nightmare or something?" Marionette tensed for a split second and Mike caught on. "So that's it? You had a nightmare and decided to huddle under the bed?"

It didn't really make much sense to Mike and he insisted a little more further. "If you don't want to talk about it, Mari, we don't have to, but if you want to then I'm here… For the next ten to fifteen minutes." He knew in the back of his head that he needed to leave, but he didn't feel safe going when this was happening. He propped the limp figure himself and continued to try subtly freeing him from the bed. To his slight surprise, the strings had at some point vanished when he wasn't looking, but he was now stopped by movement.

Marionette tilted his head back to look upwards at Mike. Slowly a smile started to appear on his face. Usually it was just there and the Puppet's face, or mask, would change in an instant. This time it was slow movements as the flimsy smile appeared.

"I'm such a baby," Marionette spoke as though he was joking, but his voice gave him away, humorless and empty. Purple fluid started to appear and Mike understood it all well enough.

"No you're not. Look at me, I had a nightmare just a while ago about Foxy. He's not even scary." Eh, maybe a little scary considering last night. He attempted to comfort the animatronic as he had in the past; he held him close, slowly petting his head, and stayed quiet to keep him calm. Marionette closed his eyes and managed to suppress the purple tears before they really started to flow. He could already feel himself relaxing and calming. Then again, he usually wasn't thrown out of his level headedness so easily.

"You could've woke me up," Mike murmured in an even tone. Marionette gave a slight shake of the head and made a noise like an exhale, though it was strictly audible.

They stayed like that until the grandfather clock in the hallway began to pang, signaling that Mike needed to leave. "I can stay home if you need me to," he offered willingly. Marionette shook his head. "If you're sure. Can I at least move you onto the bed?" The Puppet didn't respond so the security guard just went ahead and dragged him onto the bed. The black and white animatronic limply laid there so he yanked a blanket over him. "I'll be back as soon as work's over. Try not to hang yourself before I get back," he tried to joke, hoping to ease the mood a little.

It turned really uncomfortable when Marionette again didn't respond. Not that Mike thought he would do it, but suddenly his comment felt extremely discomforting. "I'll be back." He headed down the hallway towards the front of the house and left for work. It wasn't long before he had an idea to help. He didn't even know what the nightmare was about, but he had a suspicion that this might possibly help. The hours passed quickly enough and after work he only had to make a couple of stops before returning home.

Marionette had to have left the bed at some point as now the Golden Freddy plush was propped on the other pillow and there was an opened tub of icing on the nightstand. Mike moved to stand beside the animatronic, staring down at his back as he was lying face down. "At least I didn't have to turn you over," Mike remarked with a more playful tone. Marionette was more responsive than earlier and almost eagerly turned over to face the security guard. He now had more of a blank look than anything, but his tears seemed to have stopped.

There was slight pink on his face instead of purple. Mike looked back to the icing, "Uh… No, I think I'd prefer not to know what you've been doing." This got a slight twitch like a smile for a second. He went with it further and reached out to take his hand, hoping to lead him out of bed, "I've got somewhere to take you. Think you're up to going?"

Marionette grasped his hand and turned his head to press against it; his porcelain just as cool as it usually was. "…Lead the way." He rose to his normal levitation, preparing to follow Mike, but seemed much more hesitant.

"Where is it?" Marionette asked softly and Mike smiled reassuringly.

"It's somewhere we have to drive, but it's worth it. I promise that you won't regret it, alright?" The Puppet remained silent as he followed along with his human companion. Once they were at the opened front door, Marionette vanished and Mike just assumed that he was in the car and locked the door. Soon he was driving in a random direction, relatively confident in what he was planning on doing. Marionette wasn't that interested; he just pretended to be a prop in the backseat.

He really wasn't feeling better. He felt less unnerved by the dream, but it was the ideas invading his mind that stuck with him. It wasn't what he saw, but what he had suspected, and he had all the time in the world to obsess over them. Though it was almost nice to be in a car again. Almost, but not quite as comfortable as one would expect. Levitation didn't react will with outside movement. He stared at the back of Mike's seat and considered saying something, but felt too unenthused to do so. Eventually Mike turned into a parking lot and drove behind a building.

He pulled up beside a door leading into the back of the building and shut the car off. "Nobody's around so if you want to come out with me it should be safe. The door's unlocked, so you don't have to wait for me." Marionette discretely slid out the front door behind Mike, following him to the door. The security guard stepped in first and took a brief look around to make sure it was empty. Once he was certain, he headed in further, leading him into the building. It was entirely empty of furnishings and dark, except for the light filtering through the windows.

The air carried a little dust and smelled musty, but seemed like it could be fixed with a few open windows. The windows were uncovered so Marionette made sure to keep an eye out for possible onlookers. The floor also needed sweeping but the tile seemed relatively new. "So what do you think? It's in pretty good condition. It needs furniture, maybe a new coat of paint, but Fritz really thinks this is our best bet. Here, look." He beckoned the black and white animatronic and headed towards a door connected off of the dining hall, near the entrance.

"We'd take this door off and maybe put an archway in, but this would be the prize corner." Mike sent him a smile, "What do you think? I can't tell what it looks like compared to the one you were at. Just keep in mind that it'll look different when it's stocked." Marionette moved in and looked around the room almost curiously, scanning the walls humming softly, it coming out in a soft chime. "And I owe you, so whatever you want to do with the Prize Corner is your decision."

This caught the Puppet's attention, "Owe me?" He seemed surprised, then dismissive, "It was a gift."

"Maybe so, but that's what will make the biggest dent in buying this place. I do owe you something." He got an amused smile, "I'd consider you more qualified to run this place anyway."

Finally, and only now, Marionette got a full smile back and coyly added, "I'll take that as a compliment." His interest seemed suddenly and fully enthralled, completely forgetting about the nightmare and looking towards future possibilities. "What did Foxy think?"

Mike raised a brow, "I didn't ask Foxy. Hell, we didn't even run it by Jeremy yet."

"I'm honored," Marionette quipped back honestly. It wasn't as though any owner or human had asked his opinion about any businesses. Not even his father was willing to bring the subject out into the open. The thought of his father almost poisoned his mood, but he managed to regain control and angle his thoughts back to the prize corner. He scanned the room one last time before Mike stepped out and he followed him.

"The kitchen is still in good condition too. Fritz said we should probably be able to work with what we have in there," Mike added in. "We're planning on auctioning some of the old merchandise. We can't reuse it anyway and it seems like the best option. You're fine with that?" Mike tried to see if there was any physical indication that the Puppet was upset. He certainly did seem to suddenly lapse back into quietness, but it didn't seem to be a result from the comment.

"It doesn't bother me a bit. Feel free to use what you can," Marionette murmured. "…And thank you for bringing me here. I needed to see this more than I could've ever believed… It really does make me happy to see it survive."

For a split second Mike felt relief, thinking that he had easily bypassed whatever was bothering Marionette. Unfortunately, the Puppet then continued with an odd request, "Can I ask you a question?" The security guard already had a feeling that he wasn't going to want to answer this question.

"Of course. You can ask me whatever," Mike shrugged off easily.

"Mike… Do you consider yourself my friend, or my caretaker?" Mike stared at him blankly for a few moments. "Don't look at me like that! I'm entirely serious. It's important," Marionette insisted.

"Uh… Maybe both? I consider you a friend, but I did have to drag you out from under the bed this morning." Marionette chuckled but didn't chime. Mike crossed over towards the kitchen, leading his companion inside to show off the equipment. Though it was more of an ambush than anything. Mike wanted him away from the windows before he started prying about what happened the night before. The windows in the kitchen were small, rectangular shaped, and sat rather high on the walls, so they lessened possible visibility.

Marionette tested the knobs on the stove while Mike leaned on a counter. "Speaking of this morning…" Mike began, testing the waters, "I've never seen anything like that. From you, I mean. Whatever happened had to be pretty bad to leave you like that. Like… This." He knew that the building helped, but it didn't fix everything entirely. "You actually scared me. You haven't done that since we first met; that's some sort of feat, but I'm not sure what." His 'easing of the mood' wasn't as convincing anymore. Mike didn't sound fully invested. "And I worry about you."

"You worry about me," Marionette repeated back quieter.

"Yeah, I worry about you. As hard as it is to believe I worry about things, I couldn't even believe it myself," Mike responded. They stood there for a few moments before Marionette exhaled.

"There really is not much I can say that isn't obvious. I saw things I didn't want to see and I suspected things that  _I_ don't want to believe." He hoped this would buy off Mike. He looked back, Mike clearly wasn't sated at all, and he returned to fiddling with the knob on the stove. It wasn't on so it didn't respond.

"Most of it was what I could consider standard. I remembered the bite… Somewhat. I remembered my brother, my father…" His voice grew quieter, "It occurred to me that as much as I loved my father, I knew nothing about him. I never stopped to wonder how he couldn't stop the murders. Or why he covered the deaths… Or why I only lived for a few days. Why on Earth would I survive after what happened and then still have my body die?"

Mike's brows furrowed, "Wait, you're not… You're not saying you think that Fredrick killed you, are you?" The Puppet remained quiet for a moment. "Mari, I know Fredrick… Not as well as I thought I did, but I know, from you, that he loved you. Why would he kill you?"

Marionette leaned forward against the stove, head on his hand, looking mockingly relaxed. "I don't know. Maybe he just decided it would be easier to cover up if he just pulled the plug. It could've been so easy, Mike…" Mike wasn't sure if he was convinced, but he could see that Marionette was and moved in.

"I don't think Fredrick would've lived with it. Security guards are one thing, but he couldn't have done that to his children."

He was about to touch the Puppet's back when he added in. "I apparently don't have that problem. Familial ties and such… All I could think about this morning was how relieved I was that I didn't have to face my father after that." He shivered and wrapped his free arm around himself. "I actually thought that… What does that make me?"

Now Mike pressed his hand to his back, "That makes you someone who clearly thinks his father… You meant shutting off life support, right?"

Marionette's hand around himself tightened, "It's that common?"

A few seconds passed between the two before Mike insisted. "Mari, they don't do that unless they're convinced the person won't pull out of it. Fredrick wouldn't have done it, especially not that quickly… Now you've got me doing it." He verbally pulled back, exhaled, and tried to figure out how to go about this without being defensive. The last thing he wanted was to now figure out that the man he saw as a mentor was in on what happened.

"It shouldn't bother me. I am happier as an animatronic than I was as a human," Marionette now seemed to defend himself.

"And as sad as that is, that only backs up the fact that you can't dwell on it," Mike remarked. "Anything else in the dream we should quickly run through? Anything else bothering you?"

There certainly was, but Marionette wasn't feeling willing to talk about it. "Not exactly… I'm better. I'm fine. Let's not do this anymore."

The human backed off and agreed, "If you're sure." He glanced over the kitchen. "At least the kitchen is still functioning. What do you think, big enough to feed a hundred screaming children?"

The Puppet responded with forced playfulness, "Oh, definitely not."

"…Jeremy can deal with it. We've got to find something for him to do anyway. He's too skittish to stick him with the kids," Mike remarked as he flicked the knobs back to their off position. He then led the Puppet back out into the building, taking one last look around. So this was it. This was the future of Freddy's, his future that he was working towards, all inside this building. This building that still wasn't even theirs. Anyone could come in now and purchase it; there was no way that the seller would turn down a full payment over one that was currently unfinished.

"That reminds me. How long until Jeremy stops panicking every time he's in the room with me?" Marionette sounded thoroughly amused.

Mike scoffed a bit instead, "If that happens at all I'll be surprised."

The animatronic followed the security guard in curiosity. "I'm not that terrifying, am I?"

Mike chuckled, "You're like a cross between a mime and a jack-in-the-box. What do you think?" There was a soft chime behind him as he stepped out.

Marionette purposely moved in just a bit closer, thoroughly amused, "I think you sound like you have experience."

"I think I woke up with you creeping around under the bed," Mike reminded once again and looked back to see that he was alone. Marionette had already disappeared into the car. Mike shut the door and hesitated for a moment with his hand on the handle, looking over the building one more time.  _"This is going to work. We're going to make this work."_ Then he headed over and got into the car, starting to drive home. Part of the way back, a black and white hand slid from around the back of the chair and rested on his shoulder.

"If you're trying to scare me, it's not going to work. I already know you're back there." There wasn't a response at first. It actually took a few moments before the hand tightened just a little. Just a secure, affectionate hold on his shoulder. The security guard didn't make any motion to move away and the touch continued to hold on until they got home. Mike didn't need an explanation for the gesture.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Sixteen_

It had been a few days and finally the day had arrived for the auction. Mike was not looking forward to it, but still participated in what he could do to help. Even with his arm in its current state he managed to help Jeremy and Fritz set up tables on the emptier side of the warehouse. They then separated the items onto the tables for the silent auctions while they left the large items in the back for the actual auction. There weren't many large, actionable items so the silent auction method seemed like the best solution instead of auctioning every little thing.

Jeremy had also decided to put out a jug for possible donations. His theory was that more people would donate if they could give a dollar without thinking. Mike and Fritz agreed and thus the jug sat on the first table. The location required that they did move Foxy's temporary cove, which had been a chore. Foxy somehow knew they wanted into his curtain and had become a bit more threatening, standing his ground and staring the group of humans down, and it wasn't until Marionette stepped in that the curtain was moved. Foxy would only let Marionette take down the curtain.

Marionette had recovered from the nightmare well enough. He hadn't given out any more intimate details concerning it, but returned to his normal behavior. This was a good thing considering that they ended up needing his help with Foxy. The Puppet was able to instruct him to move the stuff inside of the curtain into a back room. Now they had set everything up back there somewhere, which would hopefully keep the animatronics content with staying there.

It wasn't as though Mike thought either would want to come out and explore when there was so many people out, but he wanted to make sure that nobody stumbled upon anything. That was the last thing that they needed. The security guard currently was staring down the box of parts that held the head that had tormented him. What happened less than a week before was still clear in his memories. The feeling of being followed, of being threatened, had stuck pretty close to Mike. Yet he hadn't noticed anything since he and the others came in to work. The warehouse felt like it was normal once again.

"What about these parts? Are we selling these?" Mike called over to Fritz as he watched the empty head. Part of him expected to move at some point or fly out at him.

It did neither and Fritz headed over, "What parts?" Mike pointed out the box and lifted the head out. "Balloon Boy? Uh…No, I guess not."

"Are you sure? I'd love to get rid of this thing. It gives me the creeps," Mike admitted.

Fritz seemed surprised at his reveal, "Really? I didn't think anything creeped you out." Mike exhaled a bit, somewhat ashamed by his admission. He preferred not giving the impression that he was afraid of anything, and usually he wasn't. "After the other night, this thing- this is the head that kept following me around. I don't know what was going on." He cut off as he noticed Marionette hovering beside them, suddenly appearing to listen in. Fritz hummed and looked to the head.

"Maybe it's the ghost of Balloon Boy, but he was never really aggressive. I don't know, Foxy's the one whose been giving me trouble," Fritz explained before getting called by Jeremy. The technician headed off after him to assist with what he needed. Mike looked to Marionette who held out his hand. The human raised a brow quizzically and handed over the head. He watched as the Puppet seemed to silently study the head, feeling over it, and finally speaking.

"There's nothing here," he explained. He then chimed, "Then again, it was Balloon Boy. There might have never been anything here."

"There was something there the other night. It was following me all over the warehouse. I don't know what Fritz was seeing, but there was something paranormal going on."

Marionette looked upwards at the human curiously. "Did you see it? Or hear it?"

Mike shrugged, "I sort of heard it breathing. It was this deep, heavy breathing down my neck, but there was nothing there. I'd see nothing and I'd be hearing it right beside me." He was becoming worked up once more about the memory. It was almost as though none of the others believed him.

Marionette did believe him though. "But it didn't follow you home," he clarified and received a shake of the head.

"No… And it's not here now. Maybe there's too many people or something… It didn't seem to want to get close to Foxy." The Puppet tilted his head and Mike waved it off. "Don't worry about it. We'll worry about it when it pops back up… So what are you doing? I thought you were going to stay with Foxy."

The aniamtronic's smile seemed to slightly twitch into a slight smirk, then returned back to its standard smile. "Making sure that you aren't lifting anymore boxes." He was answered with an unimpressed look. "You're so close to not needing that cast. You shouldn't overdo it now," Marionette insisted with slight concern.

"I'm not going to break anything else. The last thing I want is to keep this on longer," Mike absentmindedly rubbed the cast. It certainly was irritating to wear; rubbing at his skin and itching in places that he couldn't touch. Some nights he considered cutting it off in frustration, but he never actually went through with it.

"Just know that the longer you keep that on, the more I'm going to be tempted to draw on it," Marionette pointed out, as though it was a threat.

"I'd love to see you try," Mike murmured and looked to his watch. "We're opening in a minute. You should probably head into the back before someone sees you and you turn into a statue." He then let a smirk return to his lips. "Then again, maybe you should come out to the tables. I think we could probably get a small fortune for you. Who wouldn't want their own, personal nightmare fuel?"

Marionette seemed amused as he tapped his fingers on the head in his hands, "Of course you would be the one to take advantage of my inability to move."

"I'm waiting for the 'pulling strings' pun," Mike coaxed and Marionette chimed in amusement.

"I'm sure you are. I'm waiting for the day that we find a better thing to bat back and forth, but that is my  _cross_ to bear." He eagerly awaited a reaction, which was Mike's brief chuckle. The striped animatronic continued to toy with the head in his hands. It didn't bother him seeing it; Balloon Boy never acted fully like he was awake and, if he was, he probably moved on with the others who already had. Besides, Mike was enough of a distraction.

"And besides, if someone bought me then who would be here to take care of you?" Marionette playfully replied back.

"I don't know. Maybe I'd get sock monkey and stick it at the foot of my bed. At least it would have better jokes," Mike answered back and looked down the aisle towards the tables. "But seriously, you need to get going. I don't want you put on the spot by anyone. We're probably going to get a lot of people asking a lot of questions that I'm not going to want to answer." Marionette didn't disagree with him and put the head back in the box.

"How long will this be? It's not that I have absolutely nothing to do with Foxy, but I just don't want to give him that impression," the animatronic asked in a forced bored tone. He wasn't exactly looking forward to what could possibly happen between Foxy and himself in that room. Everything could get really uncomfortable really fast and, after the nightmare event, he preferred to not have to worry about it.

"A couple of hours at least… There's a pack of colored pencils in the office if you want to grab them." Silence. "That's all I've got."

"Then I'll make do with it," Marionette murmured and headed towards the office. He followed with a call of, "And don't lift any boxes."

Mike shook his head to himself and continues down to the tables, carrying a cardboard box of masks. A few people had already arrived early and were browsing around the tables of items. He laid down the masks and filled out a paper for their silent auction, then wandered to the side to keep watching. Fritz was talking to a middle aged couple near the entrance while Jeremy watched the tables.

Mike's goal was to watch the donation jug and to make sure nobody took something out the door or snuck into the back while they weren't watching. Most of the people were the standard suburban couples who were probably parents. Most likely they were snooping for answers more than anything else. There were a few teenagers who Mike watched suspiciously, but he let them off the hook once he saw them bid on an old Chica cut out. Though it was while looking at them that he noticed a familiar woman entering the warehouse. She was dressed casually, but it was definitely Natalie.

He decided to leave his 'post' and headed in her direction to greet her. She noticed him and gave a small smile, "Hey. Just came to see how everything was working out," she explained in a slightly awkward tone. The fact that Natalie was there though made him feel a little more confident about how comfortable she was with what he told her.

"Trying to make a living. You know, the usual," Mike remarked in return.

Natalie looked at the tables, "You've got a lot of stuff. I'm sure you'll get something out of this… So, uh, if all goes good then how long until opening?"

"The place we'll be buying just needs some appearance work. It's all already there, so it won't take too long." He sent her a smile, "So does that mean you're taking the job?"

She gave a shrug, sticking her hands in her jacket pockets, "Eh, put me on the payroll. I need the money anyway… I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing, but as long as it doesn't involve sticking my hand into any robots then I'm good to go."

Mike exhaled slowly, "No, that would be my job. It's the hands on experience from-." He cut off at the sound of a banging noise through the warehouse.

There was a little quietness amongst the room and Mike felt the need to do damage control. "Fritz, I'm going to go see if Jeremy needs help with the boxes," he called over the crowd, hoping it was loud enough that everyone could hear and think it was nothing. He then looked to Natalie, "Would you mind watching the donation jug? I have to go check on that." She gave a nod and he thanked her before hurrying into the back. Jeremy was actually currently in the office and the noise clearly came from the back aisle where the he found an out of place box.

It just sat there on the ground; not tipped over but set down, as if it had been pulled off the shelf and dropped. Mike now looked towards the doorway very close to the box and had an immediate suspicion. He stepped in and then stepped in again through the curtain. At first glance everything seemed innocent enough; Foxy was sitting there to the left, leaning against the wall with a red guitar on his lap. It didn't seem to be a functioning guitar as Foxy plucked at the strings but it didn't make any sort of tuned noise. He partially acknowledged Mike by looking over.

" _Welcome to Pirate's Cove! Pop on your peg legs and steer yer 'aye' towards adventure!"_ Foxy advertised before looking back to the guitar, as though uninterested in actually entertaining Mike. Marionette was on the other side of the room, drawing with the colored pencils but looking towards Mike.

"Yeah, thanks. So did either of you knock that box down back there?" Neither responded. "Foxy, I notice you clearly have a prop that you didn't earlier." Foxy didn't respond. "Just keep in mind that there are a ton of people out there buying stuff."

" _Aye aye, Captain,"_ Foxy clipped out of nowhere and raised his hand in a stiff motion.

Mike stared for a few moments and then turned to head back out, "Alright… Yeah."

The second he was gone Foxy lowered his hand and looked towards Marionette.  _"He- Landlubber- be a few teeth short of a Bilge Rat,"_ Foxy now clipped and then continued to fiddle with the guitar. Marionette chimed in amusement; though he had no idea what exactly the other animatronic meant by that comment. At least it broke the somewhat awkward silence for a few moments.

As Mike started out to the front, Jeremy appeared by his side. "Mike, uh… Before you leave, we're going to have to talk, alright?" It was shockingly direct for Jeremy. Mike nodded and didn't ask, because he knew something was off when he noticed the solemn look on the other man's face. There was no way he was going to let that go, but right now they really didn't have a choice. Instead they headed out into the main room to continue working. What followed was another hour of people filtering in, signing the silent auction sheet, and the actual auction finally beginning.

Halfway through bidding off an old Bonnie head, that was practically gutted and had little value, Mike was approached by a random man. As Mike was the only one not needing to participate in the auction, instead watching the tables and the donations, it made sense that someone asking questions would come to him. The man looked to be only a little younger than Fredrick had been and scanned the room with an unreadable expression. Maybe one of suspicion, but Mike couldn't help but return it with a mostly quizzical but unconcerned look.

"So you're reopening Freddy's," the man started and Mike corrected.

"Sort of. Except without Freddy. We're calling it Foxy's Pirate Pizza Place as a working title."

The man stayed quiet a little too long. "Are you bringing back the old animatronics?"

Mike couldn't resist, "Sort of. Except without Freddy. We're calling him Foxy as a working title." He gave a small smile to show that he was joking.

Instead, the man seemed to suddenly grow firm, "Let's stop playing around with each other. Where's Fred? I know he's got to be involved in this."

This was a sudden change and Mike blanked for a second. He eventually managed to get out, "He's not here… Not with us, I mean. You didn't see it in the paper?" The man looked confused at the comment. "Fredrick passed away of a heart attack a while back. In fact, that's some of the reason why we're doing this."

The man didn't seem very convinced by it. "Come on, kid. Fred's 'died' more than once. Where is he?"

Mike stared back blankly. "…Fredrick  _died_ before?" He caught on to what he meant and rubbed his face. " _And another thing to add to the list of 'Things I don't want to know about my Boss'."_

The man seemed to start to catch on that Mike wasn't covering and looked surprised. "Wait, Fred- Freddy's…? He can't be! How'd-?!"

He cut off with a sputter and Mike broke in to answer. "It was a heart attack."

This caused the man to calm down again, "I should've figured. He always was a little high strung…" He exhaled and stood there. Mike stood there. The auction nearby ended the bidding on its current item and moved on to the next one.

"Freddy reopened the old location more than once under shady reasoning, claiming it was someone else opening it. It might have been; by then we weren't working together anymore."

This comment caused Mike's interest to pique a bit, "You and he used to work together?"

The man nodded, "Yeah, back at the old location. We went our separate ways around the time that Fredbear's Diner closed. You probably don't know anything about that place, but it was the restaurant before that Pizzeria in town. He might've mentioned me, Glenn Voronoff."

"He didn't… But Fredrick didn't let me in on even half of what he was doing," Mike admitted pitifully, letting his disappointment slip through. "I mean, I was close enough to inherit his house, and yet I know barely anything about him."

The man, Glenn, gave a dry chuckle. "Don't take it personally. Freddy has his own problems." He pulled out his wallet and fished out a business card and a couple of dollars. "But if he trusted you then I'll go with his gut. Here's my card if you need anything." He dropped the dollars into the jug.

"Chipper and Son's?" Mike questioned as he read the card. The location was unknown to him, but the names were familiar from the Fredbear and Friends cartoon.

"It's an animatronic showroom, but it never really took off. I'm wasting more cash keeping the lights on then I'm taking in… Hey, but don't let that get you down. This has always been a better area for this sort of stuff."

This didn't exactly reassure the security guard, but he was still thankful. "Thanks. I might call you if anything comes up." The conversation died off and Glenn left shortly later.

The rest of the afternoon was rather uneventful. Things were sold, money was made, and a few stray questions were answered, but nothing of major significance. Mike was relieved when he was able to finally roll down the metal door and get ready to go.

He called back through the warehouse, "Mari, come on! I'm taking off!" Marionette appeared immediately beside him, clearly eager to leave the warehouse. In the background Mike could hear Foxy's 'good bye' recording playing from somewhere in the aisles.

As the guard expected, Jeremy appeared rather quickly. "Before you go, we need to, umm…" he lost track just a little around Marionette, but recovered. "The cameras are glitching out. I don't know why, but the prerecorded videos are all seriously scrambled."

Mike didn't like the sound of this at all, "Is it the cameras?"

Jeremy shook his head, "I don't think so. Like, everything recorded this morning is fine, but all the stuff at night starts running together. It's like something in the cameras themselves are destroying the tapes and we need these tapes."

"Is there any way we can, I don't know, double record it? Or record it to something separate from the camera? If it is the equipment, then we'll still have a salvageable copy."

Jeremy shrugged at the suggestion, "Sounds like a good idea… I'll run it by Sam once he's done stashing the cash."

Mike gave an amused smirk, "Or putting it right into his 'blow in Vegas' fund. One of us is going to do it." Jeremy headed off to either go try it himself or directly get Fritz while Mike didn't follow. Sure, he was concerned about the cameras, but not too concerned.

Nothing had disappeared out of the warehouse in the last few days or misplaced, so as far as Mike was concerned it wasn't a big deal. Especially since he still had to go to work in a few hours and… Regardless of the lack of activity, didn't feel safe leaving Marionette at the warehouse. If that thing did become aggressive then it could spell disaster that Mike didn't want to deal with. He waved Jeremy off and turned to head out the door. There was a note taped to his car that he glanced over and slipped into his pocket, then left the parking lot.

He felt a sort of relief once he finally arrived home. This was short lived as he was almost immediately forced back into his uniform for work. He could only take solace in the fact that every day at work would get him closer to what he actually wanted to do. There was that lingering doubt after what Glenn had said, but Mike was more than willing to shrug it off and put it out of his mind. He stepped out of his bedroom and into the hall, where Marionette was lingering. Mike assumed he was becoming clingy because he was leaving soon.

"I'm not looking forward to this," Mike wearily admitted as he passed the animatronic, who followed rather closely. "I shouldn't be gone too long. Just don't answer the door or anything. Should be a normal night."

Marionette hesitated only a second before asking, "What was that note?" His voice sounded innocently curious above all else. As Mike hadn't mentioned the note after he saw it, Marionette assumed it was something bad, which wasn't the case. The man in reality hadn't mentioned it because he hadn't thought too much of it.

"It was just a note from Natalie. She was over at the warehouse; it's just a note saying she left. Nothing serious." He put on his hat and grabbed his things, not noticing the Puppet slowing slightly in his movements.

"Oh, I didn't even see her! Of course, I didn't see anyone from the back," it was a teasing tone. If it wasn't for him crossing his arms, or digging his own fingers into his stripes, there would be no indication of any displeasure. "You two certainly spend a lot of time together, don't you?"

Mike glanced back at him, "Are you suggesting something?"

"Not at all! I'm just moderately curious. I should probably know now if I should expect her around here more frequently or not," Marionette simply remarked.

"If she takes the job then sort of. Then again, we work together now," Mike shrugged off. "But I get it and, no, there's nothing going on between Natalie and I. Even if there was, I wouldn't just start shoving her on you." For a few moments the black and white animatronic didn't seem to react. Then his body seemed to grow less tense, his grip loosened, and he looked off towards the kitchen.

"I know. I know you wouldn't do that," he was a bit more uncomfortable. "Stay safe tonight."

Mike sent back a smirk, "I think I can manage. It's not like I'm sitting in a haunted warehouse with Foxy or anything." He headed towards the door, thinking that everything was fine. Marionette was still smiling as he followed him, after all. "I'll see you in a while," Mike finished and then shut the door, heading out.

The Puppet briefly watched him from the window as his car drove off. He felt so helpless; he had been fine with everything until this new stranger got involved.

And he could get rid of her so easily. He didn't even have to use violent means; he could literally scare her off in one night of work. He knew that he could and that it was only a loyalty to Mike that kept him grounded. This was the first time that his connection with Mike had ever really held him back. It hadn't been until now, knowing that this stranger was going to be even more involved, that he felt even more trapped. Marionette took a step back and forced himself to calm down, reminding himself that there was no need to worry.

Marionette could only grin in delight at the thought that he wouldn't have to do anything at all. She would get scared and quit, he knew it, and he kept telling himself that. He moved away from the window and turned towards the couch. His Golden Freddy plush was waiting there, staring forward blankly. He could already imagine what Goldie would've said if he knew that he had allowed himself to get in this situation. Then again, Goldie would've probably just stepped in and dealt with it however he wanted it dealt with. He would've had the final say.

…But he wasn't Goldie, so he was going to patiently wait for this to sort out itself.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Seventeen_

Early calls weren't preferable to Mike. He was always groggy in the morning, as he was now as he forced down a mug of coffee to wake quicker. Frankly, Mike probably could've slept for a few more hours, but his determination to keep his sleeping pattern on track made him stubborn. The second his cell rung he answered it, not wanting to listen to the ringing very long.

"Morning," he croaked out with a yawn.

"Morning Mike, it's Jeremy," an equally tired voice answered him. "I know it's early, but can you come over after you wake up? We have a problem."

"You sound exhausted," Mike pointed out. Then it suddenly sunk in what the male said. "Wait, what? What problem? Someone isn't trying to return something are they?"

The dry laugh on the other side gave away more than an answer ever could. Jeremy was clearly exhausted and sighed, "I… I wish… We got it on tape, or something on tape. Things were moving and- you have to come watch it for yourself. I don't even feel safe talking about while I'm still here."

Mike flinched inwardly; he hadn't expected the tape to see anything. "Are you okay? Did it do anything to you?"

"No, not me, I'm fine. I just came over here too early. Fritz called me at five to change shifts; he seemed pretty shaken. I'm going to call him when I get home… I don't want to leave Foxy alone for too long."

Mike exhaled and responded, "Head home and get some rest. I can head on over there and see what's going on. Did you see any of what was going on yourself?" He could hear

Jeremy moving on the other line, as though getting ready to go. "No. Everything I saw was on the tapes. I think Fritz might have seen it, you wouldn't believe how unsteady he was when he walked out."

"That can't be good… Alright, call him, I'll head to the warehouse. Once everyone sleeps we'll figure out what to do," Mike finished and the two ended the call.

He stood from the table and headed to get dressed. On the way back he stopped by Marionette's room, considering waking him or not, and then finally stepped into the room. He crossed to the box and tapped on it. "Mari? I'm heading to the warehouse. I shouldn't be gone too long, but Jeremy's half asleep and he doesn't want Foxy to be left alone." He turned to walk back out again.

He was interrupted when the animatronic opened the lid of the box, raising some of his body out. "Foxy? What happened to Foxy?"

Mike shook his head, "Nothing, don't worry about it. Foxy's fine, he just wanted me to keep watch in case something happened." Marionette face betrayed his concern, he hadn't even had a smile first raising out of the box, and the security guard insisted. "I need you to stay here, alright? I don't want you getting involved."

The Puppet didn't seem convinced, "Mike, I can handle myself. Usually I do it well enough."

"I know, but I still want you to stay here. If you want I'll wind you again or something," Mike was still rather firm. "I want you to stay here. Please."

He could see when Marionette caved, because he seemed to slouch and then lowered into his box slowly.

"Maybe two turns," he suggested before closing the box behind him. Mike did as asked and wound the music box, then headed out of the house. It was a quiet morning and there weren't many people on the road surprisingly enough. He got there quickly and entered into the office, looking around.

Jeremy obviously left in a hurry. He had left some fast food wrappers on the desk along with a half empty drink, the monitor was still on, and there was a tape left on the chair. He guessed this was for him, but before he played it he looked into the warehouse. It was quiet and Foxy was nowhere to be seen. There weren't any foreboding feelings, no sound of breathing, Mike felt entirely alone. Part of him thought that this was a good sign out of anything so he returned to the desk and started the tape. He turned to the monitor and began to watch the night before.

The video started shortly after Fritz and Jeremy had fixed the recording system. He had to fast forward through the beginning of it, watching as virtually nothing happened. It was about ten o'clock at night when things actually started to happen on the tape. A box flung itself off of a high shelf and dropped to the floor. Silverware and cooking utensils spilled out of the cardboard and across the floor. A few seconds later, seconds for Mike and minutes on the tape, Fritz appeared from the hallway and looked down at the box. He then crouched down and started to put it away.

A different box fidgeted right above Fritz, inching towards the edge. Mike felt a slight jolt of alarm as he saw this and watched Fritz as though it was happening right then. To his relief, Fritz seemed to hear something and raised his head, then stood and walked towards the back. The tape only watched this one camera so Mike couldn't see what happened in the back. Eventually Fritz passed view again and headed back into the office. What followed was two hours of boxes falling, things moving around the floor, and the occasional blip of static.

At Midnight, Foxy barreled down the hallway in a frantic sprint towards the office. He was in there for about ten minutes before Mike could see him again, watching him wander back down the aisles. Until this point, nothing that he was seeing looked shocking enough to spur such a reaction from Jeremy. Though it was in this moment when Foxy stopped midway down the aisle, his ears sliding into their raised position, and he stared down the aisle. Mike had a clear view of where he was looking, but there was nothing there. The box that fidgeted before fell to Foxy's feet.

Foxy looked down towards the box before suddenly stumbling back. The motion was strange, as though Foxy had been struck by something, but nothing had moved. The animatronic headed back towards the office and for the next hour there was nothing except a little static on the edges of the screen. Then everything suddenly went dark. At first Mike thought it was a glitch or the tape ended, but the numbers in the corners of the screen were an obvious giveaway. Fritz suddenly sprinted by with a flashlight tightly clutched in his hand, heading back to the fuse box.

For a few more moments it was dark. This camera wasn't near the fuse box and, currently, Mike was finding the location of this camera being the biggest trouble he was having in actually seeing anything. Out of all the cameras though, this was the one saved on the tape; it had to have some sort of significance. Then the lights suddenly turned back on. In this time the warehouse had changed. There was scattered trash laying down near the end of the aisle and Foxy was back in sight, though he was in an unexpected position.

Foxy was crouched in the aisle in the lowest shelf. This shelf was large enough that he could fit in the space crouched and did so, facing a cardboard box still on the unit. It took Mike a few seconds to realize that Foxy was obviously hiding. Then he noticed movement and looked to the box of animatronic parts. An endoskeleton arm was dragging itself down the aisle towards the animatronic, using its fingers to drag itself along.

"What in the hell…?" Mike muttered as he watched it get closer. Just when he thought it couldn't get any stranger, a yellow head rolled into and down the aisle.

The Fox animatronic continued to stay crouched there and didn't acknowledge the moving limbs. The Balloon Boy head suddenly flung itself and struck Foxy's back before rolling away. The animatronic didn't react beyond a twitch. Fritz came back down the aisle at a brisk pace, but suddenly was knocked forwards by an unseen force. It clearly wasn't him tripping; Mike knew he had been shoved by something. Foxy reacted immediately and came out of hiding, blocking the human with his body and staring down the aisle as though threatening something.

Fritz ran into the office and, after about fifteen fast forwarded minutes, Foxy suddenly started to run through the warehouse. He disappeared towards where he had his cove and things halted. Mike skipped through most of the video until Jeremy appeared, passed by after where Foxy had gone. He returned shortly afterwards to head back towards the office. Midway down the aisle he stopped and suddenly looked back in the direction of one of the spilled boxes, as though he had heard something. When he turned back Mike could see the horrified look on his face.

For the rest of the tape he didn't see anything worth mentioning. Nothing moved, nothing made static, and soon the video shut off. Considering that he witnessed this in person a few nights ago, Mike wasn't as horrified as Jeremy and Fritz seemed to be. Especially Fritz who had been physically attacked when Mike had not. Though this did show something that he hadn't realized before. This thing was targeting Foxy as well. The way he had cowered, the way he could clearly see something that wasn't there, Mike knew Foxy had faced this being before.

It was possible that Foxy had been this thing's victim on the nights when they weren't there. Immediately, Mike stood and hurried into the warehouse. He wasn't afraid of the unknown assailant, or he was but was too determined to admit it, and headed through the maze of shelves before getting to Foxy's room. Already it was obvious that something had happened here as Freddy was beside the door, standing prone. Mike wasn't sure how he moved, but he gave no sort of reaction that he was awake or alive so he slid by and into the room, then past the curtain.

"Foxy…?" Mike's voice was tentative as he saw Foxy sitting in the corner. He was slouched down and only raised his head when he heard his voice. Something seemed a little lethargic regardless.

" _Yar, welcome to Pirate's Cove!"_ He cut off his greeting there and watched as the human came closer. Upon doing so, Mike realized that Foxy's right ear was bending back a bit too far. "Hey, Captain," he couldn't even fathom why it was so hard to get this out. Just seeing the animatronic in such a state was hard to fathom.

He always saw Foxy as the strongest of the group, the leader who wasn't the leader, the one wrench in the works that could lead him to certain death if he wasn't careful. To see him after knowing what he did and knowing he had been targeted, knowing that there was so many instances that he hadn't witnessed and yet knew existed, it made Foxy look different in his eyes. For a moment Mike suddenly saw Foxy in a clearer light; the closest thing he could compare it to was the first time he realized that Marionette was sentient.

"Why don't you let me take a look at that?" Mike offered in an affectionate way. He moved in closer and knelt down to look over the ear. It wasn't bent, per say, but had been loosened and then lodged back in an awkward way. This would require more than just him moving it back into place. "Fritz-The technician's going to need to look at this. For now… Anything hurting?" Foxy didn't respond. "…Look, I don't know if you understand me or not, but I saw what's been going on at night and I know what's been going on with you."

Foxy didn't respond, but he did react. Slowly he dragged his hook along the floor, his other hand tightening, as though he was frustrated. Maybe Mike was projecting what he thought he would feel, but it made sense to him. Having to contend with something that you virtually couldn't fight, that kept coming back to torment, had to be especially grueling.

"Can you tell me what it is?" Foxy did not respond again. He didn't even spout out a prerecorded line as he tended to do. He just stayed eerily silent and left Mike to think whatever he wanted.

"...Not talking, huh?... Yeah, you're pretty much just like your brother," Mike exhaled after he muttered this under his breath. Foxy shifted a little bit. "I'll just stay here and keep you company until the others get here."

So he did. He sat with Foxy and waited. Eventually Foxy did return to playing out recordings, then started to wander around the room 'singing' like he had before, and seemed to be entirely oblivious to any danger. Mike wasn't buying it, but he played along well enough, keeping himself busy enough with things.

It wasn't until Jeremy appeared in the room that Mike realized an hour or so had passed. He didn't actual expect him to be back so soon, but after seeing the tape guessed that Jeremy was worried about him. He certainly looked uneasy as he slipped past the purple curtain.

"H-Hey," he greeted, looking from Mike to Foxy.

Mike gave a 'hey' and Foxy gave a, " _Welcome, Landlubber! Are ya ready for adventure?"_ Jeremy gave a noise between a chuckle and a choke.

"No, I uh… I think everyone had a little too much adventure last night…" He looked to Mike, "How is everything?"

"It's gone. I don't know why it's gone, but I haven't seen it moving anything and it's been leaving me alone. We're going to need to get Sam to look at Foxy's ear… Did you call him?"

Jeremy nodded, "Yeah… I don't think he's coming over here today."

Mike started to stand, "That's fine. Foxy's going to be over at the house." Foxy didn't give any reaction cues, but did turn his head slightly as though he was listening.

Jeremy was more surprised and showed it on his face, "What- Really?" Mike seemed a little amused by his reaction.

"Unless you'd prefer to have Foxy crash at your place," he offered playfully.

Jeremy blanched and glanced over towards Foxy, "That… I don't think that would work."

The security guard stood confidently, "Well, it will for me… Or it will after I run it past Mari. I don't think he's going to say no though, considering… Anyway." He trailed off and looked around at the room in thought. "Okay, so… We need to get the Freddy van from Sam and we'll load Foxy into the back and move him to my place. I'm not seeing any activity so we should be safe for the moment."

"The van's out back… I think… I'll find it. It couldn't have gone far," Jeremy shrugged off and Mike started towards the curtain.

"I'll run home again, run the situation past Mari, and if I don't come back then feel free to just let Foxy in. I'm pretty sure he'll know how to dispose of the body." He stepped out of the room and headed to his car, driving back to the house. It seemed like a little too much driving, but he needed to take care of a few extra things before Foxy got there; like moving the boxes in the hall out of the way and Foxy-proofing the house.

" _If he starts running down the hall in the middle of the night, I'm going to have to start staying with Jeremy,"_ Mike mentally noted as he pulled into the driveway. With an inhale to brace himself, he climbed out of his car and approached the door, letting himself in. Marionette was in the living room watching the Fredbear cartoon, but was immediately alerted to Mike's arrival.

"I was wondering when you would get back. How did it go?" he asked curiously. At first Mike wasn't entirely sure how to begin this conversation. "Sit with me," Marionette continued and offered. Mike did so, waiting only a moment before getting to the point.

"Foxy's going to have to stay with us until we get the new place fixed enough… Or actually own it." There, he took off the band aid in one quick motion, now it was time to ice the wound. He wasn't even sure why he was so worried about this. Foxy and Marionette were supposedly brothers; they clearly spent a little time together and were somewhat concerned about each other. There was just this feeling he had that something wasn't completely fine between the two. Something seemed a little too uncomfortable.

"…What happened to Foxy?" Marionette asked, his tone dropping to concern dramatically. It contrasted greatly with his default smile that he managed to keep on.

"That thing that was bothering me the other night attacked Fritz and Foxy, so we're thinking that it's been there with Foxy on the nights when we haven't been there," Mike admitted to him. "I thought it was avoiding Foxy, but the tape showed it all. Nobody's safe at the warehouse at night, and I think it's night when whatever it is gets aggressive, so Foxy has to go somewhere until we can make a place for him."

Mike now looked to Marionette, "So I wanted to run this by you."

The animatronic responded instantly, "Of course, bring him here. I wouldn't- I don't want- Did he say anything? Did he say what or who was doing this?" A growing franticness started to fill his voice. Of course he had been protective of Mike's experience too, but then it had been something he couldn't detect that seemed content to do nothing except scare. This was different, this was aggressive, and suddenly his suspicions did dip back to Mike. "Did it hurt you? Did it  _touch_ you at all?"

"No, I didn't see it. I showed up after everything went to hell. Don't worry about it," he reached out and casually patted the black shoulder. "Trust me, if that thing touched me I would be telling everyone."

The Puppet leaned against him slightly. "At least there's that… Bring Foxy over here and this evening I'll go to the warehouse and see-."

He trailed off when Mike suddenly interrupted, "There's no way that's happening. I don't care if you could take that thing; you're staying here. Alright?" He was determined that the animatronic wasn't leaving.

"Mike, it won't just vanish on its own. That's not how these things work," Marionette reminded. He was a few steps away from either blatantly telling Mike that he was going or just staying quiet and sneaking down there later.

"Maybe it will. If its got nobody to haunt and nothing to do, why would it stay there anyway? Just… Promise me." Once again, Mike was stringing him along with a 'promise', the same tactic he had used on him earlier.

He was half ready to refuse, but instead released a huffing noise and agreed. "Fine. I promise." He then began to stare blankly at the television. Though now his mind was elsewhere and Mike knew it. He watched the animatronic for a short while, only standing and heading to the door when he heard something outside. The Freddy van backed into the driveway and both Jeremy and Fritz climbed out.

Mike was actually a little surprised, "That was quick. How are you doing, Sam?"

Sam was looking frazzled still and shakily crossed to the back of the van, opening the doors. "I'm alive. That's something, right?" The security guard crossed over and gave the technician a pat on the back.

"Yeah, that's something," he agreed. "I didn't expect you guys over here so quick."

Jeremy offered a somewhat nervous chuckle. "Foxy wasn't too hard to coax into the van. So do I just toss a blanket over him or-?"

Sam nodded in agreement, "We'll just move him in quickly with the sheet. Mike, if you can get the door it would be a lot of help." Mike agreed and headed over to the door, opening and allowed Sam and Jeremy to head inside. "Okay, Foxy, we're going to have to hurry." Fritz immediately regretted this comment as Foxy suddenly started trying to sprint.

The fox animatronic hurried inside the door blindly while the humans stumbled after him. Mike just casually shut the van doors and followed them in.

"So where do we, you know, put him?" Jeremy asked Mike. Surprisingly to him, it wasn't the security guard who answered.

"Just leave him here. He'll find his way around," Marionette answered from his position on the floor. He leaned back on the couch behind him and watched as the blanket was taken back off of the animatronic fox. "Welcome home, Foxy," Marionette quietly chimed, then fell silent again.

Foxy stared at Marionette for a few moments. He had been oddly silent for the entire trip and it didn't change now.

"I'll get my toolbox out of the van. Is there anywhere more out of the way that I can work?" Mike directed him to the middle bedroom. It was still arranged like Fredrick had it; which was how his older son had left it. Marionette didn't seem to go into the room at all and didn't protest the motion. "I'll get the tool box, just take him back there. I don't know if the bulb in there works, but it's basically empty," Mike explained and stepped out.

Jeremy watched Fritz leave and then looked down towards the Puppet on the floor. His mind went blanked as though he wanted to say something, but couldn't figure out what to. Slowly Marionette's head turned around to stare down Jeremy, still with that wide smile, and watched the man looking at him.

"…So, uh, this was pretty sudden," Jeremy forced out in a normal tone.

"It was," Marionette agreed. He was having just as much trouble, but not out of uneasiness like Jeremy. Marionette, instead, was fighting with his urge to go still and silent.

Jeremy was clearly not a threat. He wasn't a risk to telling anyone about what he saw, he wasn't a risk to becoming aggressive, and he wasn't a new face in the Pizzeria. Yet Marionette still found that he was lagging in loosening around him, so it was about time to start making a further effort. He had an urge to play with the male like he had with Sam, but he had a feeling that Jeremy would take it a little too hard compared to the technician.

"I'd go see for myself, but my hands are tied. Mike has made sure of it," he pointed out to the human.

"It was a bad scene. I didn't- I didn't see much. I heard some stuff, I think, but it was pretty unbelievable, all of it," Jeremy rambled on.

"How have you been since the accident?" Marionette asked. Only afterwards did he briefly consider that it might be a touchy subject, but Jeremy didn't seem bothered.

"Fine. I was in the hospital for a little while, but I didn't lose the arm," he ran his hand over his shoulder. "Is… Is that accident what got the toys dismantled?" His voice grew quieter, but Marionette, like Jeremy, didn't seem bothered.

"Don't blame yourself for that. There were other incidents between that and then. Besides, Mangle made its own choices. I did pity it, especially considering what happened to it, but it knew better than to get caught acting out in the daytime. Again, though, there were other incidents," the Puppet explained in a somewhat casual fashion.

Then Jeremy continued with, "By the way, I'm sorry about-."

Marionette cut him off, "About bringing Foxy over here? It really isn't an issue."

The human tried again, "No, I didn't mean Foxy." He gave up when the front door opened.

Mike then stepped back inside, saw Jeremy looking awkward and Marionette looking back at him, and quirked a brow, "Am I missing something?"

Marionette responded by looking towards him. "You certainly are, but that's for us to know and you to ponder."

Mike wasn't very enthused by the response and headed towards the hall, "Don't believe anything that overgrown Jack-in-the-Box says. I know you two were talking about me." If anything, both were more amused that he actually believed, genuinely, that he was the star of their conversation.

But the conversation trailed off and Fritz eventually finished working on Foxy and left. Jeremy was exhausted and followed suite, leaving Foxy, Marionette, and Mike alone in the house. To Mike's immediate surprise, Marionette and Foxy didn't communicate at all. Foxy stayed in the bedroom, unwilling to leave, and Marionette kept watching reruns of the Fredbear cartoon. They had absolutely no contact for quite some time; it was baffling. He could definitely tell that Marionette was avoiding speaking to Foxy, as he usually didn't only do one thing and nothing else.

Mike observed but resisted getting involved in whatever was happening. It wasn't until he left the house, even for a short while, that things suddenly changed. Only then did the seemingly unaffected Puppet decide to confront Foxy directly. He felt his hesitance grow as he stood outside the door to the bedroom. It had been so long since he had been home, since they had acknowledged what they were. Then again, Foxy hadn't shown any recognition to the home, so it was very possible that he still had no memories of this place.

That aside, Marionette could not just let this go. Whatever this being was it had attacked those closest to him. He needed answers and if he couldn't find them himself then he would have to rely on what he could get from the others. He would have to confront Foxy, he knew this. Silently he slipped through the door and into the dark room. He wasn't afraid of his brother; he was just afraid of what he was going to say. He wasn't a frightened child any longer, nothing Foxy could say would do more than help him figure out what was going on.

He kept telling himself that.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Eighteen_

The room was quiet and the air was cooler than the rest of the house. It had been so long since anyone had the desire to come in here. From what he knew, Marionette never saw his father reenter this room, and he knew it was because it hurt him too much. It only made the situation feel grimmer. The puppet looked towards the fox animatronic sitting on the bed, who looked up attentively when he entered. Yet he didn't speak; he already knew what the striped being was in here to do. Marionette's moved in closer, "Foxy… Tell me who did this to you."

Foxy dropped his head in shame and said nothing. This only made it worse for Marionette who could now see that he was more mentally clear than he let on. All this time Foxy had been acting like he was stuck in his basic programming, only sometimes nudging through it, but it was all a lie. Black hands tightened as frustration grew. "I want to know whose been doing this to you." But Foxy, as pitiful as he looked staring at the floor, stood his ground and said absolutely nothing. Marionette couldn't understand it; he knew that he was capable of fixing it but stayed silent.

"Why didn't you tell me?" his voice became more firm, betraying his frustration. "How long has this been going on? How many nights? And you- You said  _nothing_ even though I could help you!" Though what had him most angry was the simple fact that he had not been about to see or feel whatever it was. He had no idea if it was the lingering souls of the others, if it was the spirit of the Purple Man, if it was a sentient culmination of negative energy; he had seen and felt nothing in the warehouse. He felt like he had failed somehow and even now still couldn't make it better.

"Just tell me! I can help you!" Marionette practically pleaded to the other. There was still no answer at all. For whatever reason, Foxy wasn't planning on saying a thing about it. Marionette released a quick burst of static, a cry of frustration, and clutched at his mask. He tried to calm himself back down, trying to ease himself and remember that he could still fix this.

"Oh Foxy…" he murmured out in a sea of static. Foxy's ears perked, the one now being fixed, and he rose off of the bed. He reached out and took his arm.

"Lad, don't cry. Yer always cryin'," Foxy murmured in a saddened fashion. As though it hurt him to hear the other upset.

Marionette wasn't actually crying, but the comment caught him off guard. The animatronic put his arms around him in a strangely stiff embrace; he was out of practice and hadn't hugged anyone, not even children, in years. The Puppet accepted it silently and lowered his hands, pressing back into the affectionate gesture. He wanted it to last, but he had stumbled upon another thing that he simply couldn't let go of.

When they did finally separate from each other, Marionette decided to change his attention to this new revelation. "Do you… Remember what it was like before?" he tentatively offered. Again, he was under the impression that Foxy and the others had a limited memory of their lives before this. Foxy tilted his head as though in confusion. Marionette raised a hand as though signaling him to wait, then left the room. After searching the hall and living room, he found a photo that fit his needs and then carried it back to Foxy once again.

He showed the family photo to Foxy. "I know you probably don't remember, but these children… This family…" Marionette found his voice cut off and he tightened his grip on the photo frame. Foxy looked at the picture for a few seconds in silence. Just as Marionette was about to think it was a waste of time, Foxy tapped the glass with his hook, lightly tracing the photo. His eyes focused on one thing in particular; not the teenager, not the boy, but the adult male. In an instant Marionette realized that there was something else he didn't tell Foxy.

The fox animatronic passed by and headed to the door, looking out into the hall as though he was looking for something. Marionette hugged the picture to his chest, "I… I can take you to see him."

Foxy was quiet and the Puppet faced him slowly. There wasn't a verbal confirmation, but he knew that Foxy wanted to. He could somehow just feel it emanating from the male. "As soon as it gets dark, I'll take you there," he promised the other. He meant it too. It wasn't a reluctant promise or a pacifying one, he meant this.

Though Marionette was extremely relieved when Mike didn't get back before dark. He knew what they were about to do was incredibly risky and Mike would've stepped in and stopped it. Or perhaps just drove them there, but he didn't want to risk it. The striped animatronic wasn't necessarily afraid; he knew the shadows would protect them well. So as soon as darkness fell, he slipped out the front door with Foxy in tow. It was a cloudy night which had left the streets darker than they normally would be.

He guided Foxy towards the back of the house, easily hovering over the fence and sliding into the empty lot behind their house. The sporadic trees had once been a playground for them both, though not together, but now made an excellent cover. Foxy hopped over the fence and landed heavily on the ground with a metallic groan. He then followed to the sidewalk. They checked the street and Marionette made his assessment. The road they needed to go down was across the street. He signaled Foxy to wait in the bushes and stared across the street.

In a sudden rush he teleported across, catching himself on a streetlight so that he didn't go too far. He kept close to the pole, as though trying to disappear against it, and looked around. They needed to pass four houses on this street. Three had their lights on and the last one was dark; going through the backyard would be the safest option. It felt so good, though. To be outside, to be touching something that he usually couldn't, to be outside the usual box of walls, and Marionette relished briefly.

Then he was alerted by the sound of rapid footsteps. He looked back just in time to see, to his horror, that Foxy was not waiting for a signal and was now darting across the road. Metal feet nearly sparked on concrete as the animatronic sprung onto the sidewalk. Marionette gave a disapproving look while Foxy scanned down the sidewalk.

"Should've brought a spyglass. Ya can't see anything from this far away," he muttered out, lengthening the 'arr' in 'far'. Before anything more could be said, a car started to drive down the street they just passed.

Marionette pointed towards the gap between the house and the flimsy hedge beside it. Foxy sprinted in and towards the backyard, Marionette followed suit. Foxy dashed behind the house, quickly sprinting past a sliding door that shined in on a kitchen with people in it. Marionette followed behind, having to teleport to keep up with the other animatronic. That was, until Foxy leapt over a short fence and nearly ran in on a barbeque. Or what was really just four men sitting in lawn chairs who just happened to not be looking in their direction.

Foxy's twitchiness came in handy as he jolted to the side and between the houses again. They were back in front of the houses and in plain sight. Marionette directed them ahead and teleported to the darkened house, moving close enough to the house that his figure wasn't as obvious. Foxy followed along and was soon beside him on the front lawn. The puppet got his bearings together and noted what direction they needed to head in. Then noticed that Foxy had wandered off somewhere. Two seconds of frantic searching and he found him beside the house.

Foxy was staring into a window at a dark bedroom, lightly tapping on the glass of the window. Marionette was absolutely baffled, "We're going to be seen." He reminded the animatronic who sent him what was almost a playful smile, but it was difficult with limited facial movement.

"There's a kid in there," Foxy explained. He peeked over and tapped a little, then dropped back down. "I think she's awake." Eagerness filled his mind at the thought of entertaining a child, even if from the window.

The other got a skeptically amused tone. "You're going to scare her, Foxy. Come along; we don't have all night."

Foxy brought his hook down, "Kids aren't scared o' Foxy, lad. Even at my worst they were lookin' to have adventures." 'His worst' probably meant when he was out of service, though even that was one of many times.

Marionette chimed in amusement, "That's funny. I don't recall you creeping outside their windows." He rose to peek in at the sleeping child while Foxy looked around. A short scream came from inside the room and Marionette dropped to his knees beside Foxy.

"She saw me," Marionette whispered in alarm, face turning to surprise. "I just thought she was asleep."

Foxy released a low chuckle, "And you were gettin' on me for scarin' kids!" The amusement ended abruptly as a door opened and a new voice started speaking, an obviously adult voice. Now Foxy snapped into a fleeing mindset and nudged the other. "Go, go. Over there." They moved further down towards the front, crouching in the grass as they tried to ignore the babbling of the frightened child.

Marionette was beyond mortified, covering his face with a hand and mentally berating himself.

Foxy nudged him, "Don't worry about it. Happens to the best of us." Foxy was clearly enjoying this more than he should have.

The Puppet looked towards the street, "We need to keep going. We have a long way to go."

The fox shrugged, "There's no need to rush off. It's not like they'll be looking for 'monsters'." Marionette almost agreed until noticing the sound of a window opening nearby. Without a word, both of them rose and hurried across the lawn.

This time, before crossing the street, Marionette was more insistent with Foxy. "Wait here. I'll signal you when it's safe." Foxy seemed reluctant, but leaned on the street sign and watch the puppet teleport onto the sidewalk across the street. The second he did he was met with blaring lights and in a panic was able to barely teleport himself right back to beside Foxy. Now the yard was alit with an overabundance of motion detector lights. Marionette stood there for a moment, then tittered in amusement, "So now we know that the method works."

"Aye, if that's what we're calling it," Foxy agreed. They changed their direction, but from what they were witnessing it seemed like everything was taking too much time. The suburban neighborhood was simply too thick with houses and families inside of them, and most weren't asleep. Their next destination was a nearby strip mall that was close to the edge of town. Both agreed that travelling by the outskirts was probably the safest choice, even if it wasn't as directly aimed towards their location. This involved a blind dash down an alley that rested behind a few houses.

Foxy was leading the way and they were almost at the strip mall, when Marionette was suddenly distracted and halted. It took a second before Foxy realized he wasn't following and he also stopped, looking back in confusion and concern.

He wandered back over, "Come on, Lad. What's got the wind out of yer sails?" He looked at the group of cars in the driveway, but they didn't affect him at all.

Marionette flatly answered, "I know that car. It's that girl who works with Mike." He sounded wearier than anything about seeing it.

"Aww, what's that? Ya got a lass?" Foxy lightly teased, keeping his eye out for passing cars.

Marionette actually seemed to return to good humor incredibly quickly. "She's certainly not my 'lass', Captain. I don't have a lass. I don't even have a lad. I'm just a lonely puppet roaming the streets and scaring children, looking forward to the highlight of my journey; visiting a graveyard."

Mike would've rolled his eyes, Foxy just shrugged it off. "Yer also my first mate, but yer slacking on the job. Let's get going; there's nothing fer us here."

Marionette rested his hands to his chest in an over dramatic gesture, "Your first mate? I'm honored! That means I get my own share of buried treasure, right?" Foxy stayed silent. "And would you believe that in the time I said that, I completely forgot that we were going to a cemetery?" Marionette continued, chiming in a mix of mirth and embarrassment.

Foxy stared at the road, "If the sea keeps getting rougher, we're going to be going back home. Look at all these Landlubbers driving around!" He stopped when he noticed the other wasn't coming. "Hmm?"

"Her father…" Marionette began, briefly lost in thought. An undeniable urge started to creep along his fabric. "…Foxy, wait here. I need to do something."

If anything, his smile widened, while Foxy just silently agreed and hid out of view. "Come back soon, Lad." He had a feeling that was taken from some sort of recording.

Either way, he approached the house, sliding beside the side and peering through the windows. From the lights and sound from inside, most of the family was probably in the living room area, so he was easily able to slide in through an unlocked window.

The dark bedroom was thankfully devoid of life and Marionette crossed to the cracked door, peering out into the hallway. The living room and kitchen area was fully illuminated and the light poured into the hall, along with the sound of multiple people and children. He hadn't expected children to be awake still and he knew that he had to stay patient; he couldn't be seen by another child tonight. This was all different from earlier though. It had been so long since he had hunted someone, even if it was a less aggressive form of hunting.

He then focused on the singular, familiar, masculine voice that came from the direction of the kitchen. It was definitely the man who was making the threats. He considered his options of trying to go invisible, which barely worked, or trying to slip through the walls which could possibly leave him vulnerable. He would have to wait until the man was alone, the easiest option of the lost, and attempted to focus in on the man's voice. There was no information that was usable.

Marionette could already tell that he was a bit rustier than he thought he was. He used to be a threat to security guards, to the Purple Man, and now he was hiding in a room listening to a family through the wall. He was considering leaving, but in one instant the clock struck… Something. He had lost track long ago. Whatever time it turned, it spurred the man to stand and head down the hall to a different room. After a few moments he returned and entered the room across the hallway. The sound of a shower turning on shortly followed.

This was the perfect opportunity. The animatronic entered into the bathroom without being seen or heard and stared down the dark green shower curtain. He had been waiting for this and now he had him right where he wanted. He remembered what this man did to Mike, everything he had said, to spur himself on. Unfortunately, this tactic backfired dramatically. Suddenly everything halted as he realized that Mike would never be able to find out about this. He didn't know how the man would react to knowing he did this.

The restraint came back and wrapped around him like a second set of strings. Here he was, able to do whatever he desired, and something held him back. If there could be any time that he wouldn't think of the moral repercussions it would be now, but here they were reminding him of his actions. The murderer had murdered children, damaged animatronics, returned repeated, and hadn't stopped; he deserved what he had gotten. This man just said some threatening things. Frustrating or not, he didn't know if he could justify doing something. It drove him insane.

Marionette didn't realize how worked up he had gotten until he heard two loud pops and the lights suddenly died. The man in the shower let out a yelp and shuffled in the dark, scrambling to turn off the flow of water. The puppet knew that he had unintentionally blew the lights and decided in that split second that it was enough, then left the man alone in the dark. He hurried back into the bedroom as though he was now being chased and slipped out the window. He'd let the 'Weasel' go without doing anything beyond inconveniencing him.

That would change quickly if the man followed through with his threats. For now, he was content, and sought out Foxy again. He didn't even ask, he just climbed out of the bushes and the two of them headed across the street once it was clear. The strip mall still had a laundry mat open on it, which was unfortunately brightly lit and holding a large group of alert, adult humans. Marionette didn't even offer any sort of signal or explanation, he just naturally started to go behind the line of stores.

Headlights interrupted them as a car started to drive out from behind the building. Foxy glanced at the surroundings and abruptly dove into a dumpster, holding it open until Marionette slid in beside him. The car's occupants were none the wiser, but discouragement was starting to appear. Foxy was clearly on edge. He was twitching a bit more and had suddenly gone silent, but he pressed on farther. It was a relief to get onto a quieter road as the one leading to the cemetery was mostly consisting of plots that had yet to be built on.

From here the dry mountains and expanse of desert-like land beyond the city could be seen clearly. It was surprising that such a seemingly lively city was located in the middle of a vast nothing. Foxy started to lightly hum the Pirate song as they continued along the side of the road. Marionette glanced over towards Foxy and decided to try again with his questioning from earlier.

"Foxy?" The fox animatronic turned his head slightly to acknowledge him. "I think…" he paused as he suddenly felt the sensation of being watched. "I think we're being followed."

He let whatever he actually wanted to say pass and tried to keep paying attention behind him, but didn't physically look back. Foxy blatantly looked back for a split second, "Aye, they got their lights off…Maybe it's the folks of that kid you scared." Marionette felt his body start to stiffen at the thought of being watched. He knew that soon he would be unable to move if he didn't control himself.

"The ditch," he pointed out with his voice alone, referring to the sloping hill and ditch to the side of the street.

Foxy only had to turn towards the ditch when the lights of the vehicle suddenly turned on. It moved closer abruptly, knowing it had been seen, and Foxy started towards the ditch. It was by sheer luck that he looked back in time to see that Marionette wasn't moving. The animatronic panicked and grabbed the frozen being, sprinting down the ditch. Only a couple of seconds later and Foxy regretted it. The slope was steep, the puppet was awkward, and he was going way faster than he intended. He stumbled and started to roll down what remained of the slope.

His hook desperately swiped around as he attempted to catch himself on the sharp rocks he was rolling over. They landed in a heap at the bottom with Foxy scrambling to stand and Marionette trying to shield his face still. There was the sound of other footsteps as a human figure appeared at the top of the hill.

"Are you two okay?! What the hell was that?!"

Marionette suddenly recognized the voice as he rose and directly looked towards the hill. There was Mike standing there in the dark.

He didn't know how he didn't recognize the van, though suddenly realized that he hadn't directly seen it, and considered two options. He could either make a mad dash towards the cemetery with Foxy or they could explain the situation to Mike and have him drive them there. With time constraints, the risk of him saying no, and the slight joy in the chase; Marionette unbelievable chose the former. He mentally insisted that it was just easier this way than to stop and explain, and started hovering towards the cemetery. Foxy didn't ask, he just followed along in a sprint.

He climbed out of the ditch and overtook the puppet, finally seeing the gravestones in sight. Marionette expected him to stop once they made it into the ungated area, but he didn't. Marionette thought he would need to be led, but he didn't. He already knew the location of where they were going and soon the puppet was the one being led as they searched dozens of stones. Then the fox animatronic stopped abruptly in front of a single, large tombstone. It was engraved with two names, two birth and death dates, and held the two people who Marionette and Foxy hadn't ever forgot about.

On the right was Fredrick and on the left was his wife, the mother that Marionette couldn't remember. Foxy looked at the gravestone for a few moments before crouching down on one knee. He traced his hand over the newly added name in a soft, smooth movement. Marionette stared at the grave from a short way back. The purple tears returned, but they were not for the two deceased beings. They were instead for Foxy and were accompanied by complete silence. Or they were until Mike eventually jogged over from across the cemetery.

He didn't say anything at first, just pausing to pant, and Marionette squeezed in his own question. "How long… Until you realized we were gone?" he faked a light tone and hoped it took effect.

"About thirty seconds after I got home," Mike retorted. "I saw you both twice circling the city, but you both kept taking off."

"That's very comforting to know; that we were in plain sight," Marionette quipped. "We didn't know it was you. I didn't know it was you until… Now."

Mike looked unconvinced, "So you didn't hear me at the hill?"

Marionette denied it, "No, no. I was confused."

Mike scoffed slightly, "Funny, that's your same excuse for your nonchalant suit stuffing." He then actually noticed Foxy and looked to the graves. "…Are you both okay?" Foxy answered with a wheeze like a sigh, then stood stiffly. 

 _"Yar, welcome back, me hearties! Time to set sail for adventure!"_ With that, Foxy returned to the prerecorded messages, and Marionette chimed in returning amusement.

"Perhaps so, Captain. Oh, and look! To end our evening, we get to look at our own graves!" He gestured to the two stones beside Fredrick and his wife's.

Foxy entirely ignored the comment and Mike cringed, "I've got to somehow get you two out more."

Mike was surprised by how easily the two headed to the van and climbed in. Marionette had somewhat expected Fritz or Jeremy to be there, but the security guard was alone. Foxy secluded himself in the back to rest, so Marionette turned his attention on Mike. He slid behind his seat to get close enough to talk.

"Where were you all afternoon?" he curiously inquired, glancing towards his 'security' hat. "I suppose at work?"

Mike sort of shrugged, "Work for the Pizzeria, I guess. I'm actually supposed to be at work now."

Marionette felt like he was supposed to apologize, "I'm sorry."

The human didn't seem nearly as concerned, "It's not a problem. I haven't taken any personal days off for a while…" And then he felt his hat being removed. "You know, I like that hat," he jokingly suggested.

Marionette playfully retorted, "That's such a shame, because I like it too." He slipped it on his head and Mike suddenly grew a little quieter.

"I'm taking tomorrow off too. I got in touch with Glenn today and he was offering something I couldn't pass on." He paused for a semi-dramatic reveal and then finished, "He wants me to come by Chippers, look at the animatronics, and see if I want one. I mean, yeah, it's weird that he's giving it to us for nothing, but maybe it's because of operating costs."

Marionette had never felt so unsure of his opinion in his life. He knew the new animatronic wouldn't be like him and the others, so it was basically just a toy to him more than anything. Even the suspicious behavior flew under his radar; this was probably the least shady business practice that Freddy's had ever participated in. Naturally it was just his hesitation in knowing Mike would be gone in a place that he couldn't follow. Ironically enough, Mike made this decision without him, so Marionette begrudgingly felt ashamed of letting his previous decision be so effected by the male.

"…That's better than what I was thinking you would say," Mike offered with a small smirk. "Anything I should know about before I hear it on the news?"

The puppet slid back further into the van, "Chasing weasels and scaring kids. It's all what I usually do."

He watched Foxy sit dormant on the other side of the van and, for a second, wondered if he had done the right thing taking him to the cemetery. It certainly didn't make himself feel any better. He had a feeling that Mike was watching him through the mirror and wondered if he noticed.

"By the way, I still want my hat back."

Or perhaps not.


	19. Chapter 19

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Nineteen_

Mike knew that Marionette had been leering at him all morning. He certainly hadn't said anything, this had to be the quietest he had been in a while, but he watched him with a purposefully flat smile. He didn't think it was from the graveyard visit the night before; though Foxy too had been completely silent in his room and it was most likely caused by the visit. Usually Mike was a good judge of emotions and behavior, and he had lived long enough with the puppet to know when he was upset with something, so it didn't take long to come to a conclusion.

At first, Mike tried pointedly to not mention the trip out of town to visit Chipper's. He knew he would be gone for the night considering how long it would take to get there. He still hadn't left either, but that was mostly because he was hoping to get an indication that Marionette was fine with him going, which he wasn't. So they were at a brief stalemate. Not just verbal, but quite literal; with Mike sitting at the table while staring back at Marionette who just decided to stand blankly in the living room. This had only been going on for a few minutes though.

He expected that Marionette would eventually voice his issue, but alas, he did not. Mike was almost too stubborn to say something, but eventually gave in.

"It's going to be a long drive. I just hope the van doesn't break down on the way there," Mike pointed out as though it was a general conversation.

"It's a good thing you're going alone then," Marionette remarked back. There was bitterness there; Mike could taste it.

"Yeah, I'm just going to love hiking through the desert at noon. Nothing more fun than that, and my cell doesn't get good reception."

"Maybe Chipper could help you push it," Marionette suggested in a very unhelpful fashion.

Mike finally let an actual frown appear. Marionette's gaze narrowed just a slight bit. Fine then, if he was going to pout then he would give him what he wanted, but Mike knew that the puppet had no idea what he was getting into. "If you're going to throw a tantrum about it then you can come with me, but we can't risk you getting like that stunt last night. Thankfully, everyone in this town is pretty oblivious to everything going on in it."

Marionette seemed to get a rush of changing emotions on his face. It flickered to shock, to confusion, to a more believable smile.

"But we'll have to do something with Foxy. He can't go back to the warehouse," Mike pointed out.

Foxy had briefly passed out of Marionette's mind and he felt a bit of guilt. "That's true… He shouldn't be alone. We'll just have to bring him with us."

Mike stared back blankly, "…Or I could just put on a Springlock suit and we can all walk there. We're already risking it taking you there; Foxy'll kill our chances." He knew that Mike wouldn't budge, he knew the tone, but thankfully Mike also had a possible solution. "I'll get Jeremy over here to watch him. Foxy didn't seem to mind him before."

The security guard got out his cell phone to call Jeremy and forewarn him. Though he had a bad feeling about this entire event. It hadn't bothered him last night, but he was starting to get this feeling like the arrangement was too good to be true. He almost asked Marionette about it, but the puppet had left to check on Foxy, so Mike had simply let it drop.

They left about a half hour after that. Unlike what Mike expected, the ride was mostly uneventful. Marionette shifted back between the front seat in quieter areas and into the back of the van when passing any houses or other cars. Though considering that it was a long stretch of highway that was basically in desert, Marionette spent most of his time in the front, gazing out at the passing desert. He looked so enthralled by the scenery they passed while Mike, as usual, was the stark contrast. It wasn't that Mike hated the area or the drive, but he was much less enthusiastic.

Most of Mike's life had been in this same state. Sure, he had moved further south once leaving home, but it was practically the same area. Out of one small, uninteresting town and straight into another. They all looked the same, the people were all the same. Well, except for the Pizzeria and except for Marionette. He stuck around for them. If it hadn't been for the Pizzeria he would've probably moved west to California, or across to the eastern states to Maine, just as far away as he could from this area and the apathy that came with it.

He glanced back to Marionette again. It was ironically tragic that someone who went through as much as Marionette had was more optimistic than he was. He appreciated every second he had out on the road while Mike was still counting the hours, wondering about if this was all a scam, and trying his hardest to believe that he wasn't naïve enough to fall for a scam.

"Hey," Mike finally spoke and interrupted the drive, reaching forward to turn down the radio. Marionette turned to face him attentively. "I want you to go in with me. I know it's risky, but I want you to 'check' these bots before I agree to take any of them. Think you can do that?"

Marionette didn't seem fazed by the request. If anything, he had perked a little bit at the suggestion. "I already planned on it," the puppet quipped in. "They're not going to see me. I'll make sure of it."

Mike trusted his confidence, "Thanks. This just all suddenly seems a lot more suspicious now that I've been driving for a couple of hours." The striped animatronic didn't seem nearly as concerned as he did. Though Mike couldn't tell if that was certainty or simply confidence alone. It seemed to be a help as he felt a little more relaxed. How threatening could Chipper be anyway? Not much, he assumed, and continued to watch the road.

Marionette was still watching him so he added in, "It shouldn't be much longer. It's only going to feel like an eternity." It certainly did, too. By time they arrived in the small city, Mike's legs were cramping and his mind was extremely under-stimulated. It didn't take too long to find Chipper's.

Chipper's, also known as Chipper and Son's Lumber Co., was near the middle of the city. The building was about the size of the Pizzeria and brandished a large sign with the faces of the titular characters on it. Glenn specifically stated that today was the day that the theater closed for maintenance, but even with that the parking lot seemed a little too empty. Though as Glenn had said, the theater wasn't doing very well with business, and Mike could only assume that it had to do with Freddy's own history looming over it.

He parked off to the side beside one of the side doors and slipped out, silently glancing back at Marionette in the back of the van. The puppet was going to wait before he made his move. Mike went ahead and walked to the front doors, entering inside of the building. Already it was a stark contrast to Freddy's Pizzeria. The front room was rather small and was styled like a theater lobby would be, but with pictures of Chipper's cast lining the walls. There were also a few posters that apparently advertised specific shows and when they would air.

A woman stood behind the counter and he approached her. Her uniform was a green color and looked more casual than the ones at Freddy's. The most notable thing about her was her extremely curly, light brown hair.

"Hey. I'm looking for Glenn, is he waiting for me?"

The woman looked to him in surprise, almost as though she hadn't seen him come in. "Oh, yes, umm… You're Mr. Schmidt?" There was nervousness in her voice; most people would see it as a character quirk, but he saw it as a red flag of what was to come.

"That's me. You can just call me Mike," Mike introduced and quickly looked over the room again. Paranoia started to edge in, but he fought it back and faced the woman completely once more.

She seemed a little frazzled as she got herself together, "Glenn's out getting a late lunch, but he told me to just take you back into the showroom if you got in early. The plan is to let the animatronics run through and let you see how they work." She stepped out of a back door in the booth and soon appeared at the door to the showroom.

"Alright. Seems fair," Mike shrugged off, suppressing the uneasiness he had. "I didn't catch your name." Unlike Freddy's, where uniforms usually were embroidered with names, the woman didn't have one.

Thankfully, she was fine with just giving it to him with a friendly smile. "It's Amber," she said as she led him towards the stage. "This is the normal performance that's showed the most, so I don't know if there was anything specific Glenn was supposed to let you see."

Mike raised a brow, "The normal performance? So those posters are actually different shows?"

She nodded, "They all are, but it involves changing the animatronics' programing around. We usually try to switch out the shows every week, going back to this one every couple of weeks. Not that it really helps. We don't get too many repeat customers once they've seen all that they can, and programing something new… We can't do it." She exhaled in a dismal fashion. "I haven't been working here long though. Maybe this is a quiet season."

"Could be," Mike shrugged slightly. "But the animatronics are in good condition?" Amber didn't respond for a few seconds. She stared as though she didn't know what to say and waited for the answer to come to her.

"…Sure," she finally replied. "But don't expect them to be brand new, you know. They've been performing for a long time so they're far from perfect."

Mike nodded in understanding. "I didn't expect anything factory fresh. I'd have to sell an arm and a leg to get a brand new animatronic." 

Mike sat down in the front row and looked to the curtained stage while Amber stepped to the side to talk to another woman. The woman's uniform looked more like a technician uniform than anything else and the woman looked to be in her forties. Just as soon as she appeared, she headed into the back to activate the show and Amber returned.

"Hope you enjoy the show and find what you're looking for," she chirped in a welcoming, but strangely forced tone.

By now Mike had a suspicion that Glenn was getting rid of these animatronics not out of them being haunted, but them being old and defective. He had a feeling that what he was about to witness was going to be worse than he expected. He watched Amber leave, looked towards where the technician headed, and then turned to check for any other doors.

By time he turned to do so, Marionette was suddenly in the chair beside him. Mike jumped slightly, "What- Someone's going to see you!" He whispered, attempting to cover his surprise with faux concern.

Marionette seemed more than happy to sneak up on Mike. "Oh, I don't think so. They didn't see me coming in," he quipped, leaning against the armrest as he looked over the room with moderate interest. "This isn't exactly what I expected, but I suppose it could work. It wasn't the first establishment to prefer the entertainment over the more active things."

Mike was slightly curious, but wasn't interested enough to ask after the lights dimmed. The security guard leaned back in the chair, "Seems easier to manage the kids with."

"You would think so, but no. Right now the kids would be out of their seat running through the aisles," Marionette pointed out matter-of-factly.

"…If this doesn't start soon, I might need to do it myself. My legs are half asleep," Mike muttered as he shifted uncomfortably in the seat. The sitting in the darkness lasted for a few more minutes, along with some noises from the back. The man exhaled, stretched, and looked over towards his companion, "I'm starting to see the problem with the place, and your eyes are glowing." He could even tell that he was being stared at.

At this instance a spotlight suddenly appeared and shined on the stage. Then out from the curtained shuffled an actual animatronic. It walked strangely, like there were wheels somewhere underneath it, and looked to be almost half the size. 

 _"Welcome, everyone!"_ the small Beaver raised a hand stiffly. " _The show is about to begin! No flash photography, please!"_

Mike made a soft choke and leaned over, "I don't even want to know what kind of murderous rampage a camera flash is going to set off." He followed with a small smirk.

The small Beaver continued standing on the stage for a few moments, as though waiting for a cue. This cue came from a larger Beaver suddenly walking onto the stage. Mike recognized the character as Chipper and remembered him specifically from the cartoon episodes. He looked pretty unchanged design-wise.

" _Heya, kids! It's me, Chipper, and this is my son, Tyke!"_ Tyke waved again in a stiff manner. " _We'd like to welcome you to the show! I've been a lumberjack, actor, screenwriter for a couple of years now, and it's good to see the crowds still lining up!"_

Marionette actually looked back at the empty seats. 

 _But it's about time for my son here to take over the business,"_ Chipper announced.

Tyke turned to face him in surprise, or his voice sounded surprised,  _"But Father!"_

Chipper interrupted him,  _"No buts! It's about time you started to find your own way in the world! Now, I'm not kicking you out on your furry ear just yet-."_

'Ear' elicited a prompt, "What?" from Mike. 

_"We've got one more show to perform! But that means that this one's got to be really special… Hmm… Oh, but first…!"_

Both of the Beaver animatronics faced forwards off of the stage. They began to sing, " _Welcome to Chipper and Son's! Where we work all day and have fun!~"_

Suddenly the curtain opened behind the two and revealed more animatronics behind them. Most of them were smaller than both of the Beavers were, except for two large cardboard cutouts that were supposed to look like shadows of whales at the back of the stage. It was sort of jarring as the group of other voices chimed in, " _Where the trees grow tall and the logs all fall where they may! Welcome, come in, come stay with us today! Let us welcome you to our forest and say-!~"_

" _I've got it!"_ Chipper suddenly blurted out and turned before walking off the stage. His footsteps were heavy on the stage and he was clearly not on wheels.

Tyke attempted to follow, _"Dad? Dad?!"_ He sighed,  _"Sorry, folks! Looks like the show's going to have to end here…"_

A seagull looking animatronic raised its wing and argued in. " _No way, Tyke! And upset all of these people? You can handle it."_

The curtain started to close and Tyke sighed before hurrying off stage.  _"Alright! I'll try my best!"_ He hurried off the stage and the room fell silent.

Mike was just staring at the stage. "…Well, that was something. Think that was it?" He looked over to Marionette who was looking towards the floor. "What's wrong?" The puppet covered his face with his hand, the motion showing obvious embarrassment. "…Good luck with that," Mike teased back and looked back towards the curtain.

About five minutes passed before the curtain opened again. This time to reveal Tyke and the seagull standing in front of an ocean themed backdrop. Tyke was shaking his head while the seagull was fidgeting with its wing raised.

"That doesn't look right," Mike commentated and leaned over towards Marionette who was silently watching, his hand now on his mouth.

The Seagull 'inhaled deeply',  _"Ah, smell that salty sea air! You know, Tyke, you'd make a good first mate. Why are you sticking around in the logging business? You should come with me and we'll sail the seven seas!"_  

Tyke sounded unconvinced,  _"I can't leave my dad. He'd be devastating. Besides, I'm a Beaver, cutting trees is basically what I'm supposed to do… Even though dad's the only one that really does it."_

The Seagull made a dismissive exhale and turned to the side. The wing shifted oddly and still didn't go down; by now Mike knew it was stuck in place. " _That landlubber wouldn't know the first thing about adventure out on the open sea!"_ Music began to play through the room as another song began. " _When you live on the ocean you can get the notion to ship off out to sea. To leave to distant lands, make sure you have all hands on deck, and a foolproof plan. Ho, there's land! Far across the water!~"_

Now Tyke chimed in,  _"I do know if I can go without telling my father!~"_

The Seagull ended the song with a final,  _"Take a chance my friend and cut the ropes! Adventure awaits!"~"_

They stood stiffly in that same position as the cardboard cut outs from before slid out from behind the curtains. The voice that followed seemed to come from closer to the stage though.  _"Hey, Phil! What do I have in my pocket?"_ Another voice that sounded almost identical chimed in,  _"You mean your fat rolls?"_ The first voice responded,  _"Rude! Smoothie Time!"_

By this point Mike wasn't even sure what he was supposed to say to Glenn. He couldn't imagine any of this being at the new Pizzeria; he didn't even want to consider it. A soft chime came from beside him and he glanced over, flatly stating, "This isn't funny. Nothing about this is funny."

Marionette could barely control himself, trembling in the seat. "I know. It's just- It's so awful, isn't it?" He cut off when a small termite animatronic stepped onto the stage, raised a flimsy arm with a fake martini glass, and then it promptly fell off. Mike mouth dropped open. Marionette broke down.

Needless to say, the rest of the show dragged on for what felt like eternity. Marionette was basically hysterical while Mike watched with pity as more things went terribly wrong. Tyke lost a finger, the seagull's wing never lowered, and the finale song was clearly out of sync. It finally ended with Chipper coming back onto stage.

" _Without further ado, the Lumber Bot Maximum!"_ he called and led out an animatronic that looked identical to him, but with a metallic sheen. Mike was barely interested at this point, but it suddenly piqued as he realized something very odd.

Unlike Chipper and the gang, this Lumber Bot animatronic did look newer. Its joints moved a lot easier and it looked better put together, cleaner than the others, though maybe the metallic covering hid the flaws. Unfortunately, it only got about ten minutes on stage before the curtains abruptly shut. By this point Mike's legs were completely numb and he could only look over at the mess that Marionette had become with disbelief. He could only wish that he could find this all that amusing, but he was going to have to give Glenn an answer.

The lights suddenly alit again, practically blinding Mike who had gotten so used to the dark. By time he recovered enough to look over, Marionette was gone, and a set of footsteps could be heard. He looked over to see Glenn appearing down the walkway.

"How was the show?" he asked with an interested smile.

Mike didn't know how to respond and forced out, "It was good." He nodded, paused, and quickly changed the subject as he stood. "But are you sure you want to break up the group? The show looks pretty complete as it is."

"Maybe, but we can shift some things around. Besides, we need to lower operating costs," Glenn tried to dismiss. "Any of them, save Chipper and Tyke, can be cut. I wanted you to see the show first just in case you saw something worth being cut."

Mike bit his tongue for a moment, then pointed out the animatronic that stood out. "I noticed that Lumber Bot animatronic isn't exactly like the others…" he trailed off in hope that Glenn would explain.

Instead, Glenn seemed more focused on the exchange, "You want him? We could drop him out of the show pretty easily."

"I just noticed he looks newer than the others?" Mike asked in a partial question.

Glenn looked towards the stage, "Yeah, that, he is newer. We got all the others when the place opened and got him when the last Lumber Bot broke down. We work on them ourselves now, but back then we had to call in technicians, so they got us a newer model hoping it would last longer. If you want him then you're welcome to take him; he's the only character who really doesn't do much in the show or anything." He seemed to become more insistent about this.

"I'll… Think about it. I can't decide just yet," Mike lied.

Glenn smiled confidently again, "Great! Why don't I show you around? You might want to see the odds and ends of this place if we're going to be working together." He led Mike through the relatively small theater. There was a storage room that held the animatronics, a small control room, and Glenn's own business office. Mike noticed something missing in particular; a security office of any kind. In fact, he soon realized that there weren't any cameras inside the theater at all.

"You don't have a night guard?" Mike asked the older man. This seemed particularly strange to him.

"No, no. Don't need one, really. I lock everything down when I leave, but we have a set of backup locks that activate around Midnight. Nobody's getting in through those." He seemed certain of this so Mike let it drop. Overall, by the end of the tour Mike was entirely convinced that the trip was a bust. He was only barely able to talk himself into more time by saying he was staying in a hotel and would be back in the morning.

Mike already planned to stay in a hotel. He didn't really want to drive at dark, especially if an animatronic was in the back. He managed to weasel out of Chipper's quicker than he expected and practically ran to the door, briefly waving to Amber as he left. It was only once he stepped out that he realized how uncomfortable he had been. He peeled out of the parking lot before even checking for Marionette, but to his relief the puppet was in the back and hadn't lingered inside the theater after the show. Regardless, Marionette hadn't noticed anything amiss.

It wasn't until later the evening, after Mike had gotten dinner and settled in for the night, that his mind returned to the strange animatronic. His only chance for answers was now Marionette, who was currently setting up his music box on the bedside table beside the bed closer to the door.

"You're taking that one?" Mike inquired.

Marionette reacted by limply dropping onto the bed, "I intend to." He playfully smiled back towards Mike as he sat on his own bed. "What's wrong? Having trouble making your choice?"

"Don't play with me, Mari. We both know that we're screwed no matter what I decide to do. I have half a mind to just split town; I'll call Glenn later and just say that there was an emergency," he kicked off his shoes and gave a cynical chuckle. "Just watch, he'll appear at the Pizzeria in a couple of days with one of those cardboard whales."

Marionette rolled onto his front, holding up his head lazily with one arm. "They did have the best joke," he only seemed more delighted when Mike gave him a look of unimpressed disbelief.

"You don't seem very disappointed about not finding anything," Mike pointed out accusingly.

Marionette shrugged, "I won't lie to you, on the way here I started to get a little worried about us actually finding a fitting animatronic. I couldn't imagine Foxy's reaction if someone was at risk of taking his position."

A small smirk crossed Mike's lips. "Yeah, Foxy. I'm sure he'd get jealous pretty quickly." Just as soon as the smile appeared it faded once more. "…I'm tempted to head back there and see if anything's happening now that it's nighttime."

He looked to the clock, mentally noting that he couldn't go after Midnight or there wouldn't be any way in… Only then did it register that the time was a very familiar one.  _"If the animatronics start moving at Midnight like back at Freddy's…"_ He straightened on the bed and looked back to the puppet. "What if the animatronics stay dormant until Midnight? Glenn said the door had a double lock and absolutely no security guard. It would make sense if these animatronics were moving around on their own at night."

"Perhaps, but I am certain that they are empty. Unless they actually have a mode that makes them wander at night, which I sorely doubt," Marionette quipped back. "Mike, I think it's a waste of time. You don't want them, I don't think I can handle looking them in the eyes, and it's too late to be wandering around." Mike looked a little surprised. "Before you say anything, being active at night doesn't count when you're not active during the day," Marionette remarked and turned over, adjusting on the bed. Mike seemed to let it go.

"I guess you're right… It doesn't matter anyway," he clicked on the television and shifted back against the headboard. "We've got an early morning tomorrow. The earlier we leave, the sooner we get home and rescue Jeremy from Pirate Hell." His blue eyes moved back to the other as he got comfortable. "Need me to wind your box?"

Marionette only believed it for a second, though for a split second he actually believed it. He froze and then chimed in amusement, "Oh Mike, you should've at least waited a few minutes."

Mike inwardly scolded for his quick reaction, but he knew that he was running out of time. Unfortunately, Marionette was now aware of what he was doing; he actually wondered if this meant Marionette would try and stop him. He doubted it, but now it was like an unspoken challenge and Mike wondered if he could win. The other couldn't sleep without the music box… Unless.

Mike tried to suppress the clever smirk, "If you're not going to sleep, you can come over here and we can watch something. It just seems kind of weird to sit on two different beds and watch tv." Somehow, Marionette didn't see through the act.

* * *

Jeremy stretched stiffly and looked over towards the grandfather clock. It was late and it clearly showed why he was feeling so tired. He groaned as he turned off the television and started to stand.

"Alright, Foxy, I'm going!" he called back towards the hallway. Foxy hadn't really interacted with him at all in the evening so he didn't think he would care. He stumbled into the kitchen to pour out what was left of a glass of orange juice, listening to the soft chimes of the clock striking midnight. It reminded him of reaching six in the morning on those long nights as a security guard.

Maybe he was distracted or just tired, but when Jeremy turned around he didn't expect to see Foxy standing near the door.  _"_ _What's that, matey? Going so soon? Pirate's Cove is open to any lad or lass looking to be a pirate!"_

Jeremy gave an awkward smile, though it looked more like a cringe. "Yeah, no, I think I'm fine on land, Captain. I'll see you in the morning." He waited, but Foxy didn't move. It slowly dawned on him in his tired mind that Foxy was blocking the front door. "Uh… Foxy, I need to get by."

" _Pizza, games, and booty for the takin' be all you need in Pirate Cove! Settle in for the long haul, lads, because we're going on an adventure!"_ Foxy responded, raising his hook with his other hand stiffly on his hip in a choreographed pose.

The human got a little more uncomfortable, "I-I really should be getting home… Foxy?... Foxy, please let me by." He was becoming more unsteady as he realized that the clock had just struck Midnight, that it was same time when the animatronics supposedly got rowdy, and now Foxy wasn't letting him go.

Jeremy tried to sidle between the table, the wall, and Foxy in an attempt to somehow get to the door, get it open, and leave. Foxy seemed to have another thing in mind,  _"Let's all play a game."_

Jeremy stared back, wide eyed, "…Okay." It wasn't like he could even say no. Foxy had him in a bind and he couldn't access the door unless he had moved. "…How do you play?"

He knew he was going to regret even asking.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Can't Go Home Again** _

_Chapter Twenty_

Marionette roused slowly and stretched into the bed beneath him. He couldn't remember falling asleep, but he knew it had to be more natural than the music box. He would've remembered the chiming and all he could hear was the low volume of the television. He glanced over towards it without much care before turning over to look at Mike. Except Mike was not there. Alarm bells rung in his head as he quickly sobered into a full sense of alertness. Mike wasn't on the bed, wasn't on either bed, wasn't in the room, and neither were his keys.

For a second the puppet was in a frenzy of panic, unable to believe that he had been tricked so easily, but then calmed down. He knew where Mike had gone so it wasn't any sort of mystery. He had been there himself, so he could eagerly teleport back over and find the man himself. Annoyed but undeterred, he quickly followed after him.

He swore he was going to kill Mike… If Chipper didn't do it first.

* * *

Glenn apparently relied on the security locks more than Mike had expected, because he was easily able to find an unlocked window that led straight into the office around back. He slid in easily and shined his flashlight around, not wanting to turn on the lights and risk alerting anything. It had taken longer for expected to get Marionette to sleep, but it had worked. Mike wasn't sure why it worked, but it had given him a chance to leave without having to bring him along and risk more.

This left the security guard only about fifteen minutes to check around before he would be locked in. He stepped out into the hall, closing the office door behind him and beginning to search the establishment. It was basically the same as it was during the day, everything in the same place, just the lights had been turned off. His first stop was the storage room where the animatronics were left. Peering inside he could see them all standing around idly. He nudged Chipper with his flashlight and received no give or response. Satisfied, he went to check the stage.

The curtains were drawn, but both the stage and the seating area were without change. By this point, Mike was starting to wonder if he made the wrong call. He checked his wristwatch and continued through the rest of the theater. By time he passed through the lobby he was convinced that there was nothing here.

"If they're going to move then they'd start moving by now," Mike murmured to himself, leaning over the front desk and looking around inside. Again there was nothing, except a few stacked papers and some office tools sitting around.

Basically, Mike hadn't found anything. It was almost Midnight by now and he was discouraged, so he headed back towards the office to let himself out. He could probably make it back to the hotel in time to get a full night's sleep and still leave relatively early. Everything was uneventful until he got to the office and tried the door. He had shut it behind him, so he didn't expect when he turned the doorknob that he would just walk right into it. He fidgeted with it further, trying to see if the door was just stuck, but it seemed more likely that the office somehow locked.

"You've got to be kidding me." Mike tried to ram his shoulder into it in a halfhearted attempt to break the door open. Not only did it not work, but it only made him more aware of his current situation. He checked his watch to see that it was five minutes before Midnight. "I still have time to get out before the lockdown," Mike reminded himself as he turned and headed back towards the front room. As he crossed to the seating room, his foot struck something and knocked it onto the floor. He looked down with furrowed brows.

There was the termite animatronic, now laying on its back on the floor. Mike felt a cold feeling spread into his throat as he saw it laying there.  _"I didn't even hear it moving. It had to have moved on its own,"_ Mike mentally thought, followed by a fit of mental swearing. His lips were tightly closed as to not let a single noise out to alert anything.  _"It can't just be this one. The others are probably starting to come out."_ Yet the termite animatronic was no longer moving so he desperately tried to block out the doubt and instead passed him.

The curtains started to open as he passed by, but he ignored it and instead approached the front lobby again. Not only would the doors not open, but there didn't seem to be a way to unlock them. By now he was starting to realize that something had went terribly wrong. He looked to his wristwatch as it turned Midnight.  _"_

 _What if my watch is wrong? What if it's been Midnight since I got here?!"_ There was a growing panic as he turned back towards the show room, taking a few steps towards it before suddenly seeing the glow of lights on the stage.

He wasn't sure how they were turned on, but he found quickly that he wasn't exactly curious enough to go looking. In fact, he stepped right back into the lobby, determined to continue searching for a way out. " _Maybe there's a key or a remote somewhere. There's no way that these locks are unable to be opened until morning."_ Mike climbed over the front desk and began to search behind it more in depth under the counter. Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing of interest hiding there, and by time he stood he realized that he wasn't alone.

There was a figure looming in the doorway. He couldn't see it well, but it looked tall enough to be Chipper. Mike dropped back behind the counter and turned back towards the door. It only made sense to sneak out through the other door. Though this plan was shot the second he realized that he wasn't alone. The door was cracked open and standing there was the seagull, watching him but saying nothing, its wing still stuck in the upwards position. He stayed still and hoped that the alleged 'play dead' method would work with it.

It almost worked, but was interrupted by a sudden hand reaching down over the edge of the counter and grabbing onto Mike's upper arm. He only had a second to process before he was suddenly yanked upwards and dragged over the counter. The second Mike's head was dragged over the counter he came face to face with the endlessly smiling face of Chipper. His blue eyes widened in terror before the rest of his body started to get pulled over. Somehow Mike managed to twist himself over and tugged himself to the side.

Chipper staggered slightly and released the human who fell face first onto the tiled floor. Mike scrambled to his feet and dashed to the doorway, sliding through and hiding in the alcove between rooms. His pulse was racing, his adrenaline was starting to raise, and he waited at the doorway to listen for Chipper. Yet Chipper didn't follow him. In fact, when he looked around the corner, the animatronic didn't even seem to know where Mike went. It baffled the human as he watched it circle the room once and then look behind the counter again.

" _I just went by him; how can he not remember what direction I went in?!"_ Mike asked himself, dumbstruck.  _"…Then again, after that show earlier, I could believe that these things couldn't remember something as simple as that."_ A small smirk of amusement started to stretch on his lips as his body relaxed. They were awake, they were alert, they were hunting him, but they already were barely a threat. He had taken on Freddy's gang; Chipper and his group of short animatronics couldn't stand a chance.

He knew that the office was his best bet. If he could try again to knock in the door, he could slip out the window and be basically safe. Then if Glenn said anything- ...  

 _"That son of a- he was going to send me home with one of these things when he knows they do this! I can't believe I walked right into this…"_ Mike was circulating through emotions as he started to cross through the seats in the audience, not daring to get close to the stage and simply wanting to get to the back hallway as quickly as possible.

That was, until something suddenly hopped up a few rows of chairs down. It briefly jumped into the air before disappearing back into the seats again. Mike halted in his tracks and stared attentively, watching as further ahead a second, small figure jumped above the seats before disappearing again. While he couldn't get a good look, he had a feeling that it was the two depressing looking frogs from the show that were popping in and out. Mike was less than impressed, but tried to quicken his pace before the got any closer.

He made it to the hallway and approached the office door again to try and break it open. Just when he started hitting it hard enough that he suspected it was going to give, a light shined upon him from across the hall. In a sudden moment of flawed judgement, Mike believed that the light was actually some sort of flashlight. He stumbled back, "It's just me, I got-." His voice cut off at what he saw instead. The light was illuminating from the eyes of an animatronic down the hallway, and this time it wasn't a small, unthreatening one.

The Lumber Bot stood in the middle of the passage and stared him down. Mike found his eyes dropping down to the axe in its hand and he wondered if it was a prop or a real one. His answer came in a cold moment of realization when he noticed how much light it reflected. It was definitely metal. Now Mike was actually panicked and he turned to hurry down the hall. There were three more doors there; a closet and two bathrooms. " _Maybe he's like Chipper. Maybe he won't be able to tell which one I went in."_

The bathroom was the first choice, but seeing that the closet was closer, and that there was a higher possibility the Lumber Bot would walk by, he hurried in and closed the door quickly. He could only hope that this animatronic had the same memory trouble as he stood in the cramped place. And if he didn't… There was a dirty mop setting to the side that would barely make for a weapon. Mike stood to the side and listened to the heavy footsteps thumping down the hallway. Every second seemed to pass slower and slower as he stood there.

Then the Lumber Bot entered the first bathroom beside the closet. Once Mike was convinced that it was far enough inside, he threw open the door and took off down the hall, heading out into the showroom again. He got only a few feet before something suddenly flew into him. It was one of the Frogs and he easily threw it aside, trying to hurry away. Then the second one hopped at him and he only barely managed to dodge. "Get the hell away from me!" he called out reflexively, knowing they wouldn't obey. All it succeeded in doing was luring in Chipper from the lobby.

"Damn it," Mike swore under his breath, scanning the room for another way out. The Seagull animatronic was already wheeling its way down between the seats while Chipper was making it over. The termite had returned too and made its way towards him. Without a second to think about it, he climbed onto the stage and backed against the curtains, watching as they all started to crowd around. " _If I can get away then I'll lose them all at once. I can lock them out of the lobby. I can-."_ He stepped back through the curtains and his back hit a hard, flat surface.

"… _Are you kidding me?"_ Apparently even the whales, cutouts on wheels, were here to trap him. Though as soon as he realized Tyke was still missing he suspected he had something to do with it. The cutouts moved along with him as he tried to walk around them and, unlike how flimsy he thought they were, one push on the whale showed how sturdy it was. There was no breaking his way through. Instead, he looked forward to see if there was an opening to jump down off of the stage and get away. The animatronics were crowding in around his feet.

Then a split second decision hit him to leap into the chairs. From the distance, he knew he could land on the front row. The plan was to land on them, climb over the chairs towards the back of the room, and then find a proper place to hide. The closet seemed good enough, and this left him close enough to the office that he could try breaking in. It all made so much sense before he actually jumped and landed on the row of seats. Mike had been to multiple theaters in his life, but never had he been to one where the row of seats had not actually been bolted down.

The entire row fell back with his weight and he fell onto the chairs behind it. He struggled to scramble to his feet, climbing down the row of the chairs. It was a shame that the seagull was so quick on its feet, or possible wheels, as it was suddenly ramming into him, shifting its stiff wing. 

 _"_ _Oh, when you're looking out to be living out on the sea, you got to get a boat!~"_ it began to sing and Mike shoved it back. It continued trying to crowd into his legs as the Termite also appeared as his leg, poking its sharp arms into his calves.

Right at that moment, as he kicked the Termite animatronic across the aisle, a familiar hand was on his arm. It was Chipper who started trying to drag him back. Mike kicked at its legs, watching it stumble but noticing that its grip was much tighter than it had been before. It wasn't going to let him go. He tried to pry himself away, to drag himself back away, but he was yanked forward. The others moved in, along with Tyke who climbed down from the stage and grabbed ahold of his leg, helping Chipper drag him towards the stage.

" _I didn't see any empty suits in the back. Maybe they just think I'm a roaming animatronic and are moving me back to the storage room,"_ he tried to believe, only able to hear the seagull singing from behind. For a moment he really did think that he was in less danger than he really was…

Until he realized where the animatronics were taking him. Not to the stage, but to the Lumber Bot, who now had its axe raised. Even with its big, stupid smile on its face, the Lumber Bot was more threatening than any of the others holding him.

Chipper held him firmly in front of the Lumber Bot, the same empty look on its face, and the Bot started to raise its axe. Mike struggled, now being weighed down by the multiple hands of the weakest animatronics he had ever seen. Yet they hadn't needed strength or intelligence to do this. As though it couldn't get any worse, Tyke started singing and Chipper almost did, but his voice fizzled out halfway through. He started to loosen his grip, head slumping as his overworked body suddenly gave out. Mike almost thought this was his lucky break, but he couldn't get out of the grasp.

The axe was raised high, position directly at Mike's head, and the Lumber Bot prepared to swing.

"No, wait, stop!" Mike blurted out. "Stop, no-!" As though he could rationalize with the animatronic, trying to twist to the side.

It was in this moment that he noticed another noise past the sound of Tyke singing. The distant sounds of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' entering the showroom.

"I'm here! This thing's about to chop my head off!" he called out desperately as the Lumber Bot twitched. It was by sheer luck that its arm had gotten stuck in this position.

It didn't even have a chance to swing. A blur of black flew at the Lumber Bot, sudden enough for the animatronic beaver to be knocked back onto the floor. With the axe suddenly removed as a threat, Mike managed to regain his bearings. He braced himself and shoved back, trying to somehow knock Chipper back. This animatronic beaver also teetered and hit the floor, Mike falling with it and struggling to pry off its hands. The many smaller animatronics were swarming like ants around him, trying and failing to do anything compared to what Chipper or Lumber Bot could achieve.

Then there was a sudden 'shove'. Mike felt it along his spine and shivered in response while the small animatronics, save Tyke, were suddenly flung to the side. Tyke was still trying to grab at Mike who, now that he was free of the swarm, managed to tug his arm out of his grasp. Looking back, he could see that his suspicion was confirmed, as it was Marionette standing before him. Lumber Bot was shifting on the ground; newer model or not, he was struggling to stand.

Mike took this to his advantage, "Let's get out of here before that thing figures out basic movement!"

He sprinted past the puppet and into the hall again, not stopping until he reached the office door. It only became apparent to him now that he wasn't being chased. The closest thing had been Marionette following him. "…They're not coming, are they?" Marionette didn't answer, but he knew it was true. He literally knocked the animatronics over and they had become completely helpless, and this was after they could secure Mike and threaten him with an axe.

"Before you start thinking that I got my ass handed to me by a bunch of robots…Eh, forget it." He turned to the door and started to fiddle with the handle as he tried to think of how to break in. "Hey, do you think you could…?" He looked to Marionette and stopped at the sight of him, slight glaring with his same smile and his arms crossed.

"So are you angry about what happened at the hotel or just mildly amused? Either way, it's a good effort," Mike remarked, a playful smugness in his tone. Marionette raised a hand, pausing for dramatic effect, and waved it past his face. His expression was replaced with one of clear annoyance and lack of amusement.

"Better?"

"Almost. I think I'd have a better time being inside this office and on our way out of here," Mike stepped back from the door. "I'm just going to get the axe. It didn't look like it was attached to the hand and, even if it was, I think I'd prefer it being as far away from it as possible."

Before he could even go, Marionette raised a hand dismissively, "That's not necessary. I can handle the door." Mike could tell how peeved Marionette was as he watched him work. The puppet touched the wood of the door, feeling its thickness, then tried the door knob."I can unlock it from here," Marionette murmured as he attempted to focus on the lock on the other side, which he naturally couldn't see.

Meanwhile, Mike suddenly noticed the sound of footsteps. "One of them's coming… You keep working on the door. I'll handle this." He reached into the closet and grabbed the mop, started down the hall, saw the coming animatronic, stopped, and then returned. "False alarm; it's just that seagull again. If I hit him he'll probably just start singing again." Mike perked at the sound of a click and the office door opening.

Marionette slipped inside and shut the door behind Mike when he entered. Back in the office, with the open window, Mike could feel nothing but instant relief. Suddenly he was in some form of safety again. As for the door, the lock on it was a simple turn lock and didn't even have a keyhole. Mike couldn't fathom how it locked unless shutting the door behind him had triggered it somehow.

He glanced over the desk, most likely Glenn's desk, and exhaled, "For a place that's squeaky clean, there's a few too many murderous beavers running around." At least it got a chime out of Marionette, but Mike knew he tried to suppress it. He turned to him, "But in all seriousness, thank you for coming in when you did. I don't know how they got on top of me when they could barely walk straight, but they were out for blood."

The animatronic shifted a bit and eased a small amount. "I could've just come with you in the beginning. Always so determined to go in alone. Could you at least start carrying a weapon?" He brushed by in an almost dismissive fashion and approached the desk in interest.

"You're the closest thing I have to a weapon," Mike pointed out. "I really didn't think I was going to see anything. It just seemed safer if I came in, poked around, and left before the place locked down." Suddenly he was actually feeling rather embarrassed at the whole thing. "I can't believe they almost got me. How did  _they_ almost get me?"

Marionette made a sighing noise, "They didn't  _almost_ get you, Mike. It was the axe; if it wouldn't have been looming there then you would've gotten out by yourself. I know you would've… But that's why I'm here."

His voice returned to its normal tenderness and he began to smile again. "If anyone should be ashamed, it's me. Watching that show earlier, watching them move, it's hard to believe that I am made of the same things that they are. I suppose sometimes I forget that not all animatronics are made differently… And even I have a few weak points of my own. Including an on off switch." So that was it. Marionette was upset because Mike managed to partially trick him; unlike most of the time when he was upset, Mike understood it completely.

"I don't know your weak spots because you're an animatronic. I know them because we are constantly within two feet of each other. Big difference," Mike remarked with a small smile. "That fiasco earlier, and the animatronics, they don't make me think less of you. If anything, they make you stand out better." He then looked down at the cleaned desk, wondering if there was even a point in looking around for any sort of evidence. "So there were deaths here too… Does that mean the Purple Man was working here too? Why did they keep giving this guy work?"

" _And to think I was struggling to find a job. Guess all I have to do is start killing kids and I'm set for life,"_ Mike bitterly lamented. It was weird to still feel bitter even though he knew the man was dead, but he couldn't help it. He literally got away with murder repeatedly, and the murder of children no less. Just thinking about it made him want to grab a weapon, as Marionette suggested, and go visit Golden Bonnie's moldy body. Though these thoughts were abruptly cut off when the puppet pointed out something.

"If there were deaths here, then they must have already moved on. From what I'm seeing now, there aren't any lost souls lingering here," Marionette pointed out. "It hasn't changed from earlier. Violent or not, those metal husks are empty as can be."

Mike's head shot upwards and he looked surprised. He thought for sure after they started moving and attacking that they were haunted. In a way, this made him being caught even more discouraging. "Are you sure?" Marionette nodded. "Okay… Then that means that, I don't know, maybe this is a programming thing."

The more Mike thought about it, the more this made sense. "That's why they're so oblivious. They're just following a poorly set list of instructions… But the question is who gave them that directions. If it was Glenn or some other technician." He straightened once again. "And that's what I intend to find out tomorrow morning. Forget us taking an animatronic; Glenn's got a lot to answer for."

Marionette got a playful tone in his voice, "It's a shame that I'm going to have to miss it." He watched as the human headed towards the window. Though once at the window, Mike came to a halt, hesitated, and then exhaled in defeat.

"Alright, I'm sorry about the trick. I owe you." He almost instantly regretted the final three words when the other chimed in delight.

"Oh really? Mr. Schmidt, I gladly accept your generous offer! Now just to figure out exactly what it is you will owe me." While Marionette's voice took a teasing tone, Mike had no doubt that he was absolutely serious, and that he wouldn't be forgetting whatever this so called 'favor' was. That was the least of his problems.

At least, unlike all the other people who had covered their shady business practices, Glenn was alive. This meant there was nothing stopping Mike from demanding answers.

* * *

Jeremy had a feeling that he made a horrible decision agreeing to go along with the 'game'. It just seemed like it was a bad idea, a cover for something worse, but he went along with it. Mostly because he and Foxy would be working together in the near future. He would rather pacify him now than possibly suffer from low morale later. Considering that he had seen what Foxy went through at the warehouse, sympathy was also in play. Though that sympathy was running out as fast as the cycle of the 'game' continued to haunt him.

The rules were simple. The lights were turned off, Foxy hid, Jeremy got his flashlight out, and then he would look for Foxy. There was a catch, there always was a catch, that involved the game not ending until Jeremy caught Foxy and then ran to the front door. If he got to the front door without getting caught, then the game would be over and Jeremy could leave to go home. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done, as Foxy was quite fast and quite determined. This meant that the game was simply not reaching an end.

This wasn't the first time Jeremy had gotten led into doing something he didn't want to. He had a bad habit of going along with things, but now it was a much less sane situation. This wasn't another human, one of his peers or coworkers, it was a haunted machine who had hunted him at one point. It was still dangerous. His hand was shaking as he opened the door to the back bedroom and shined a light inside. At first he couldn't tell if the animatronic was there, but there was both a closet and the bed to check. Both of which had been hiding spots in other rooms.

Jeremy cautiously approached the bed and knelt down to shine his light underneath. There was too much stuff shoved under the bed for anyone to fit. Between the boxes and old toys, it wasn't possible that he could be hiding underneath. That meant he was either in the closet or not in the room at all. He started towards the closet, trying to brace himself if he had to break into a run in the near future. He took another step and the floorboards creaked underneath him. Alerted by it, the closet flew open and Foxy burst out with a cry.

This had happened numerous times now and yet it still caused him to flinch back. He forced himself out of it quickly and turned to take off down the hall, hoping to make it to the door this time. He was halfway down the hall when Foxy's heavy footsteps were suddenly behind him. Before he could even make it into the living room, Foxy caught his collar with his hook, tearing his shirt unintentionally in the process. Jeremy choked on the fabric around his neck while Foxy released a recording of laughter.

" _Sorry, Lad! Better luck next time!"_

He had already said this multiple times as it was. Even though the tone didn't sound patronizing, Jeremy could just feel it was somehow. Foxy released him and nudged him towards the kitchen so he could wait. As before, Jeremy stiffly entered and waited against the counter, his nerves shot and his eyes tired. Part of him knew that he could just leave and yet he didn't have the willpower to do so. He was stuck with Foxy until he beat his game and willingly let him walk out without strings attached.

Part of him suspected that this was all just an excuse for Foxy to scare him over and over. He wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't too far from the truth.


	21. Chapter 21

_****_

A few minutes after eight o'clock struck, Mike stormed into Chipper and Son's, ready for a confrontation. He headed straight back to the office, giving a brief nod towards Amber as he passed. She didn't stop him and he pushed right into Glenn's office. The man looked upwards from his desk and alarm suddenly struck his face. Somehow he could tell, from the glare on his face, that the young man knew. Or maybe it was from how of most of the animatronics had been stuck on their back for the rest of the night, and Glenn knew something put them there.

"Mike…" he began slowly and Mike's eyes narrowed. 

"So Glenn, I think you left something out of the conversation. Maybe the fact that your bots come awake at night and become homicidal. I had an axe at my head last night!" He betrayed his calm tone and blurted out a growl of anger. He had been waiting for this all night and the pent up frustration was not all towards Glenn, but he wasn't planning on holding it back. 

Glenn looked a little confused, "About that- How did you get in here? This whole place should've been locked down!"

Mike pointed his thumb back towards the window. From the way Glenn closed his eyes and wearily rubbed his face, he obviously knew he had left it open. 

Mike's anger cooled to a look of slight disinterest, "I want to know what's going on here. I already know it's not the same situation as Freddy's." Glenn dragged his hands down, staring over his fingers at the younger male. He took a few seconds to stare at Mike and then murmured. 

"So you saw what was going on over there…" There was a calmness in his voice, as though he suddenly was let off the hook, and Mike responded.

"That's right. I know about the animatronics trying to kill the staff, I know about the multiple unrecorded deaths, and I know what Fredrick was doing, so we can cut out all the 'press talk'. I want real answers; not the ones that were going out to the public. Why are these animatronics violent?" Mike was firm and straight to the point. Glenn leaned back in his chair and gestured to one across his desk. 

"Sit down," he offered. Mike did as suggested, staring Glenn down. "Before you think there's been deaths in this place, there hasn't. Nothing shady's happened here."

Once he properly defended himself, Glenn continued to explain. "When we first opened, they didn't act like this. It wasn't until our first Lumber Bot broke down that we had problems. We called in the technicians to work on it, the guys who did Fredrick's animatronics, and they said Lumber Bot was unsalvageable. So we got the newer one as a replacement…" He gave a slight shiver, "I don't know if it was him or if they fiddled with the other animatronics, but they started to do this after Midnight. We didn't call them back to fix them."

"Because you thought the technicians were behind it," Mike clarified. 

"Pretty much," Glenn agreed. 

"Anyone in particular? There was some trouble with some of the workers," Mike didn't know why he was being vague. 

Glenn tossed his arms in the air, "These people were supposed to be the best! You know, they put facial recognition technology into those damn bots over at Freddy's, but they somehow screwed something in ours?!... I'll be honest with you Mike. I think you're a good kid, but there was a reason I was giving those things out to you." Mike had that suspicion. "I just assumed there was a company backing you or someone working with Fredrick. Someone thinking that the 'small group of kids' approach would hide that they're really calling the shots. I thought, what the hey, I'll dump off on or two of these things back onto Freddy. See how he likes it…" 

Mike now rubbed his head, "Wait… So you're telling me that you  _still_ thought Fredrick was alive? The bodies buried right outside-." 

Glenn cut him off, "The fact that you know about this stuff tells me enough… Fredrick would never let anyone figure this much out."

"Fredrick left a lot of his stuff behind. I figured it out on my own," Mike admitted. 

"Yeah, well… So I know it was definitely the technicians that did something. I don't know if Fredrick set it up or not." This sort of had Mike uncertain. It could've willingly been one of the technicians; Mike had one in particular in mind. It didn't seem that Glenn knew their names as he wasn't dropping them. 

"I don't know what to tell you. Fredrick lied about a lot of things; the franchise was practically built on it. All I can tell you for sure… Is that there is no way that any of those things are going back with me."

Glenn didn't seem very surprised by the statement. Instead he opened his drawer, "Look, with business as bad as it is, I can't risk you going out and telling someone about what's going on it here." Mike's hands suddenly clenched on the arms of the chair as the man said this. He started to become defensive as he listened to the next words. To his surprise, Glenn brought a lockbox out of the desk. "So I'm just going to see if I can match your price before this gets out of hand," he remarked and started to unlock it.

"I'm not taking bribes," Mike insisted. "Just… I'm not telling anyone, but that's  _only_ because this is really a bunch of haywire animatronics and not some sort of haunting. If I found out that people were dying here too I'd be at the police in a heartbeat, but for this… I can't risk jeopardizing my business. It would put me and my family at risk." 'Family' slipped out unintentionally, but it was best way to quickly describe the ragtag group that he had acquired. 

Glenn looked surprised, "Are you sure? You look like you guys could use the money." It was so tempting.

"We'll find a way. If we start doing this then it's going to escalate," Mike stood by his ethics. He then started to stand with a weary sigh. He planned to dismiss himself and leave, but he found that other questions still nagged at his head. "It was probably years ago, but do you remember any of the technicians that came in?" he finally broke down and asked. 

The older man didn't seem too certain, "Not really. I was only on a first name basis with a couple of them and they didn't stick around long. I think I might have a card or something somewhere."

"What about a timid looking guy, possibly in his twenties through fourties, sort of talked like…" Mike paused and then did his best mimic, "Like, 'H-Hello, yeah, you know, we're pretty sure the animatronics are killing people, but, hey, it's a day job. You know how it is'." He hadn't actually ever heard anyone say this, but it seemed enough like what he, the Phone Guy, would say. Even though Mike suspected the Phone Guy more and more, and had his own suspicions about his fate, he found himself interested more than usual in the stuttering male.

"…Now that you mention it, yeah. There was this one guy who was really blowing smoke, really anxious sort of guy. I didn't catch his name, or I don't remember it, but he was the one doing most of the talking. I got the card from him," Glenn started to scrounge in his desk as he explained. "Look, if you want to stick around a little longer, I can try to find it." 

Mike waved it off, "Eh, it doesn't matter. Don't worry about it. They're all gone now… I have to head back. The place is going to fall apart without me." He didn't really want to risk a second night in a hotel.

"I've got your number. I'll call you if anything comes in," Glenn promised and Mike soon left. Maybe he hadn't gotten the answers he had wanted, but he honestly felt like he had gotten some form of reassurance by talking with Glenn. With the van empty of animatronics, except Marionette, Mike started the long drive home. He quickly recounted what Glenn had said to Marionette, and Marionette seemed to believe him. Not because he trusted him, the puppet barely trusted anyone, but because he could vouch that the animatronics were not controlled by souls.

"So the trip was basically a bust," Mike finalized. "I mean, it was a lot weirder than I thought, but I missed a day of work to play 'axe the night guard' with Chipper and son." There was a tinge of amusement in his voice, though. In all seriousness, as disturbed as Mike should've been, he was actually feeling rather good. He had survived the night once again. Even though he required assistance, he had that rush that came from a near death experience, and that was something. 

"But you saw the show. That's the important part," Marionette tittered back.

"I kind of wish there was something more, you know?" Mike offered out. "We're going back home with nothing to show for it. I couldn't even get a, 'I suffered through Chipper's and then got the axe', shirt or anything." His eyes glanced out the window. He took in area of trees that was soon to be followed by the desert. It looked like some sort of camping area; a lake surrounded by trees was connected to the road by a thinner road that led off. Temptation took over, a playful smile as well, and he started to turn off.

Marionette looked confused, "Where are we going?" 

Mike gave a playful glance, "Not far." It wasn't as though it was a viable question. There was literally only one place they could be going taking this road. It was more to question what they were doing and why they were doing it, just in a shorter and less concerned manner. It definitely was some sort of park from the parking area and the clearings for camping around the lake, so it was by sheer luck that they seemed to be alone. Mike parked the van and then slipped into the back.

"Well, you weren't lying. This definitely wasn't far," Marionette quipped back, leaning against the door in disinterest and looking out at the lake past the window. It certainly looked nice; he couldn't remember the last time he had seen a lake, not counting the drive here. 

"We didn't really get anything out of Chipper's, so I was thinking… Hold on," Mike continued to sort through the stuff in the back. Finally he managed to find what he was looking for, a disposable camera. He knew Fritz usually used it for documentation, but with only five photos left on the reel he didn't think he would care.

He leaned between the seats and flashed a smile, along with the camera, "Let's go take a couple of pictures in front of the lake. It can be our souvenir for this lousy trip." 

Marionette seemed a little unsure about the offer, "Are you sure? Someone could easily see me. It's broad daylight and I'm not exactly a natural occurrence in nature." 

Mike was a little more convincing, "You walked through town at night and snuck into a theater full of people, neither time getting caught. I think you can handle a lake in the middle of nowhere." Marionette didn't give any facial cues, so Mike kept prodding. "Just a couple of pictures. It's not like anyone's going to see them except you and me." He was just so insistent, so eager about something so simple sounding, and the puppet gave in. Even if it wasn't safe, he would do this for the other. He opened the passenger side door as Mike slipped out through one of the back doors of the van. He seemed to be keeping an eye out, but was nowhere near as paranoid as Marionette was. Any of his confidence was shot being out in broad daylight.

Mike led him down a short path to a small deck on the edge of the water. He handed over the camera, "So if you could just hold that with your psychic powers, maybe about ten feet away from us, we'll get a couple of us on the dock." 

Marionette slightly tilted his head, still confused about this entire thing and why it was so important, but went along with it and took position beside Mike. He didn't like putting his back to the lake, but did it, keeping his usual smile as he faced the camera. "This might not work right," he warned.

"It's fine, nobody's here," Mike reassured, considering whether or not he was supposed to put an arm around the other in a friendly pose, or if it would just be too strange. It wasn't like he usually walked with his arm wrapped around Marionette or anything. 

"That's not what I mean. I meant, if security cameras have trouble recording me, then I doubt this little, disposable camera is going to get a good picture." 

He had a point, but the human was still determined. "At least I'll look good," he responded with a smirk and clasped an arm behind the animatronic.

Which reacted in Marionette shivering at the sudden motion, relaxing, and then proceeding to take the pictures. For the first three they stood like that, on the fourth Marionette relaxed a little more, and on the fifth he moved a little more comfortably next to Mike, so it looked less like he was avoiding touch. Then the camera started to simply 'click' without taking photos. 

"It ran out, that's all the film we had," Mike pointed out and Marionette brought the camera to himself before heading back to the van quickly. Mike looked back at the lake before following.

As reluctant and determined as Marionette was to get back into the van, he seemed to calm down once inside, continuing to hold and look over the camera. "I'll send them in to get them developed when we get back in town, so we've got a couple of weeks before we can see how they came out," Mike remarked as he started the van. 

Marionette was more interested in something else, "I never knew you to be one so interested in pictures." Indeed, he hadn't. From what he saw, Mike didn't even have any photos, or none that he hung up.

"I'm not, usually. I don't know; I guess I have a soft spot for spontaneously risking ourselves." This didn't seem like a convincing enough answer to the puppet. Whether or not it was, Mike started to talk once again, entirely unprovoked. "It kind of reminds me of this place that my dad used to go camping. He used to show me these pictures when I was little, telling me that we'd go together once I got older… I don't need to tell you how well that plan worked out." Bitterness betrayed his voice and things Mike didn't want to say forced their way out.

"I'm sorry… What happened?" Marionette asked. He wasn't sure if it was inappropriate or not, but considering that Mike had asked him about his own death, it didn't seem like too much of a stretch. 

Mike gave a noncommittal shrug, "I don't even know. Just one day he was there and one day he's gone. I don't want to go into details about it…But it wasn't like what happened to Fredrick. I'll leave it at that." And yet, once again, he couldn't just leave it at that. By time they were back on the main road and heading towards home, the words returned.

"There was a lot of stuff I missed out with him. That's probably why I ignored what was going on at the Pizzeria enough to get close to Fredrick. Knowing what I do now… But he must have been doing something right. I mean, he raised you. That's something," Mike was now babbling, frothing with words that held no weight to them. Marionette slid down in his seat to avoid being seen by a passing car, toying with the idea of whether or not to say anything back. This conversation having taken a turn that he personally didn't want it to take.

"…I loved my father, Mike… But he wasn't perfect," he could see Mike look to him out of the corner of his eye. He didn't necessarily want to look at the other directly while saying this, not if he wanted to keep his face in check. "To be completely honest, he was never there when I needed him as a child. I was constantly on my own with- myself… Father made it up to me by taking me in when I needed him," Marionette admitted to him, but then added in. "I'm sure your father wanted to take you those places."

The silence returned over the van and stayed there for a couple of minutes. Everything was suddenly a lot colder coming off of talking about their parents. Marionette stayed halfway on the floorboard and lightly fiddled with the camera, nudging it around on the seat. At some point he figured out that maybe he upset Mike and broke the silence, "I'm sorry, Mike." 

Mike looked confused, "Sorry?" 

"I overstepped my boundaries. Our situations are entirely different and it is not my place to say anything."

"What? No. Don't worry about it," Mike interrupted the puppet. "That's not… There's a gas station up ahead. I'm going to pull in and refuel, so you're going to need to get in the back." Marionette knew instantly that Mike was trying to change the subject and wasn't exactly impressed by the effort. He silently moved into the back as Mike exited the van and went to work. He was glad to stretch his legs and took his time to briefly check his phone for any messages, finding it weird that nobody had called. The reason was soon apartment as he realized his phone was dead.

Shrugging off the fact that he forgot to charge it, he paid for the gas and left again, bracing himself and climbing back into the driver's seat. He was tired of driving, but he forced himself to continue in the effort to get home. 

A few minutes back on the road and he looked back, "Alright, which of us is giving the other the silent treatment?" 

Marionette leaned against the back of the seat, "I'm pretty sure it's you." 

Mike glanced around the road, "Huh… Anyway, we've got a while before we get home."

The mood was eased immediately and the tension was taken off. Though if Mike really thought about it, most of the problem had simply been him dwelling on something that he hadn't wanted to, and promptly followed by making the puppet uncomfortable. Either way, Mike shoved it into the back of his mind and focused on the rest of the drive. It was a relief to finally drive back into town and to the house. Though it was incredibly strange to see Jeremy's car still in the driveway. 

"That can't be good," Mike remarked as they pulled in beside him. "Foxy wouldn't kill him, right? He's over that, right?" Mike inquired, actually feeling a degree of disturbance growing. 

"Foxy knows who Jeremy is. I doubt he would spontaneously kill him… But just to be safe, I'll go in first." Mike got a look like he was either horrified or ill, he felt like both, and Marionette disappeared. Thus, once again, a catastrophe had happened while he was away; or Mike assumed as such. He scrambled to unlock the door and get inside, frantic to see the extent of the damage. Why hadn't Jeremy left? What was he thinking staying overnight?

All of Mike's immediate concerns came to a sudden halt as he got into the door and saw Marionette peering over the back of the couch. There, laying on the couch, was Jeremy. He was in a dead sleep and looked exhausted as could be. Mike had to double check the grandfather clock and make sure it was the time he thought it was. Either Jeremy had been sleeping for hours upon hours on end, or he went to sleep recently, but that didn't explain why he was still there.

Marionette chimed in amusement, "The worst mistake a night guard can make; falling asleep on the job." He leaned on the couch, holding his head as he stared down at him. "Do we wake him up or do we just make him a permanent part of the furniture?" 

Mike stepped around the couch, staring down at Jeremy, and then nudged his shoulder. "Jere?" The man didn't awaken very quickly and it took a few more nudges before he groaned and looked upwards. 

"Mike?" Jeremy groggily muttered.

"Yeah, it's me. I thought you would've headed home by now… Or last night. One or the other," Mike remarked as he watched Jeremy drag himself into a sitting position. 

"I tried to call you last night. You're not going to believe the night I had… What time is it? It's morning?" 

Mike made a short chuckle, sort of like a scoff, "Morning was five hours ago. My phone was off. Speaking of which, let me fix that." He headed over to put his phone on charge while Jeremy now looked to Marionette, still watching him over the back of the couch.

"You're lucky. If you were at the Pizzeria, Foxy would've had your head," Marionette lightly teased. 

Jeremy tried to resist the urge to yawn, "He got as close as he could last night… Did anyone fall asleep and live?" Curiosity got the best of him and Marionette chimed back, "You did. I'm not counting now." Jeremy flinched in disturbance and Marionette again chimed in delight. Noticing how upset Jeremy seemed, he backed off a little. "I'm just having fun with you. Really, what did Foxy do?"

"He wouldn't let me leave," Jeremy noticed that Marionette didn't seem surprised or concerned by the statement. "Then we started to play this terrifying version of hide and seek. Foxy kept wanting me to find him and kept jumping out of closets-." At this point, Marionette slowly started to raise his head. His motions gave away disturbance, but his face held the same smile. "-and no matter how fast I ran, he kept getting me before I got to the front door. The game went on until… Maybe five? I can't remember. I just meant to take a break…"

Jeremy laid back down on the couch, clearly still exhausted, and as he closed his eyes Marionette let the disturbance pass his face. What Foxy had been doing struck a chord with him, a chord of frustration. Maybe he wasn't as close to Jeremy as he was to Mike, not by a long shot, but nobody deserved to be Foxy's plaything for the night. Without a thought, he turned and started back down the hallway, looking to confront the other animatronic head on. Meanwhile, Mike had the phone plugged in and checked his messages.

Out of nine messages, seven were Jeremy calling frantically, one was someone calling and sputtering briefly before ending the message, Mike assumed it was Jeremy again, and the last message was Glenn. This one was the newest and the most interest of the group. Glenn was casual on the other end of the line, " _Hey Mike, it's Glenn. You're not picking up so I'm guessing you're on the road. So I found the card with the number on it. It's only got three of the names written down on it, so the fourth guy is still at large. The number is…"_

By this point Mike had collected a notepad and a pen and jotted down the number in question. " _Three of the guys here were David, Fritz, and Chance. I think the fourth guy was the nervous one, because I think I would've remember his name if it was one of these three. If you find anything else then call me back, and if you change your mind about taking one of these guys…"_ Mike stopped paying attention at this point, because he was too busy standing there with a slack mouth and widened eyes.

He had called out Fritz, Mike's friend, Mike's business partner, the last person who Mike could ever imagine lying to him. Fritz had been there, Fritz had been involved, and now animatronics were trying to attack people. 

Mike sprung to his feet and stormed to the door. "Jeremy, Mari, I'm going to see Fritz. Don't wait for me." As though they would be going anywhere. Jeremy didn't even rouse as Mike disappeared out the door, falling back into a soundless sleep.

He was oblivious to the things going on around him.


	22. Chapter 22

Mike stormed up to Fritz's front door with the same determination he had when he stormed into Chipper's to face Glenn. Though now it was definitely more personal, and he hesitated at the door for a second before knocking heavily. There was some shuffling before a pause, someone looking through the peephole, and then the door opened.

"Mike, hey," Fritz greeted. Mike was about to barrage the man, but held back when he noticed the other man's state. He was still wearing what looked like his night clothes underneath a robe that he had slung on. He looked exhausted and his voice was relatively limp.

Mike eased a bit, but only because Fritz's look confused him. "Hey… We need to talk." The door was opened and he was let in. Mike wandered into the front room and looked around. It looked surprisingly empty as though some things were missing out of it, or perhaps the furniture had just been moved. The coffee table was topped in multiple papers and some food containers, another sign that something was off. Usually Fritz was neater than this; or, at least, Dinah was.

"I haven't really heard much from you for the last couple of days. You basically just shut down," Mike pointed out and Fritz tiredly rubbed a hand through his hair.

"No, yeah, I know. Sorry about that, I've just had a lot on my mind…" Fritz trailed off and shuffled to the couch. "How'd Chipper's go?"

Mike huffed a little, "It was a disaster. Apparently they've got- What's going on here?" He couldn't ignore it any longer, he couldn't even continue with the issue at hand until this was taken care of. "You look like a mess, Fritz! What in the hell is going on here?!... Is this about what happened at the warehouse?"

The technician exhaled quietly and slouched on the sofa. "No… Well, sort of, but not exactly."

The younger male stared blankly, "That… Makes absolutely  _no_ sense. It's really a yes or no answer. Where's Dinah? What does she think of you looking like this?"

The older male looked away, "…It's over."

Blue eyes blinked in confusion. "What?"

Fritz was quick to clarify, "Dinah and I. She left me. It's over." He reached forward to fiddle with the papers on the coffee table. "I was thinking about the new location and it came to me that we could lose the chance of getting the place, so I… Decided to speed the process a bit. I went ahead with the business loan. Eventually I told Dinah about it and she was understandably not happy. I mean, think about it, I'm putting my life on the line for something that isn't really a sure thing, aren't I?"

Mike slowly sat down on the ottoman, "So… That's it? It's just over? Just like that?"

The technician gave a dry chuckle, "No, it's never that simple. We got in a fight about it first and it ended with her packing and leaving… She said she was hoping that we were going to get married, that we'd have kids and live life together, and I threw it all away." He rubbed at his face. "What am I doing with my life?"

Mike was so torn. He didn't know whether or not to comfort his friend or question the technician who may have been lying to him. Reluctantly, his loyalty as a friend won over.

"You're doing something you want to do. What's the point of living a life if it means dropping an opportunity you want, right?" The technician shrugged a little bit. With his silence overtaking the room, Mike nudged into the issue at hand. "Fritz- Sam, Chipper's animatronics are programmed to attack people at night. They aren't haunted; they are programmed to attack once Midnight hits."

The man's head raised abruptly with a, "What?!" Alarm took his voice, as though he knew nothing.

"And that's not the craziest thing… Glenn told me that you were one of the men working on them."

For a few second Fritz said nothing. He simply stared blankly, his eyes wide, and Mike patiently waited for a reaction. Then he finally got on, "…What?"

Yet the security guard forced a patient tone, "Fritz, something's going on here. Either you're hiding this from me, this massive thing, or… Or what?"

Fritz seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in. "Mike, no, why would I do that?! I almost got killed by them, why would I program others like that!"

"Who knows. Maybe David and Chance got you to do it," Mike suggested.

Fritz's eyes widened, "Wait, Chance? Chance was… Chipper's?" Mike nodded and the technician tried to remember back. "Look, I don't remember going to Chipper's. Maybe I did, but I swear to you that I didn't do anything. I couldn't have, because when I was hanging around with Chance I was still basically a trainee. He was mentoring me in animatronic repair." It didn't sound like something he just spontaneously created off of the top of his head. Mike was still reluctant to trust him.

"Mentoring you in how to reprogram animatronics? That's certainly something. Especially since they were programmed to do something so close to what the live ones were doing to security guards," Mike quipped out.

Fritz grasped at straws, "Could they have been affected or influenced by the other ones?"

Mike scoffed, "Why, how, and what would be the point? Especially considering that you three, or four if Phone Guy was involved, went out of town to work on these animatronics."

Fritz became more panicked, "Which animatronics were they?"

"A beaver, a smaller beaver, a metal beaver, two depressing frogs, a pitiful set of whales, a fall-apart termite, and a seagull with wing problems," Mike recited. He wouldn't forget any of the creatures that had tried to maim him.

Suddenly Fritz seemed to get a clearer look on his face. "Wait… I remember something like that…" He hesitated a few moments. Then he insisted, "I'm starting to remember something like that. I don't think it was actually at a business, though… Mike, you have to believe me. I would have never done something like that." Mike didn't say anything in response to this. "A long, long time ago we worked on a couple of frogs. They were the only things I was allowed to touch, being an intern. The others were the ones who were actually doing repairs, like old Chance. After all of this, Mike, I wouldn't lie to you."

Yet Mike wasn't sure how much he believed that. He stared at the mess that Fritz had become with scrutiny. It wasn't like with Glenn; as much as he didn't want to trust Glenn, Glenn sounded believable, but something here was missing.

To Mike's horror, he was almost ready to believe Fritz, even though Fritz's explanation was, at best, full of holes. This meant at least that Fritz knew Phone Guy more than he let on. It was a lot of emotions that Mike didn't want to have to deal with, a lot of suspicions he didn't want to have, and, while he still suspected the technician, he lowered his guard.

"Alright, alright, I believe you," Mike spoke in defeat. "But look, I'm tired of this 'hiding stuff' thing. You could have told me about this before I risked my life at Chipper's."

"Did you bring any of them back?" Fritz asked.

"I would've had better luck bringing Glenn back. I would've preferred it too. We'll stick with Foxy and Mari," Mike insisted. "…And the loan?"

The technician started to get out the paperwork. "Is enough with the rest for us to get the building. Once we get the restaurant going we'll have enough money to start paying off the debt, as long as we don't run into any sort of disaster…" This was enough for now, even if there were so many more questions on Mike's mind. The other technicians, the Phone Guy, the murders-.

"So how long until we can go in and start fixing the place up?" Mike allowed Fritz to tell him of the future plans, trying to block out the thoughts in his head. He would trust Fritz, he earned that much…

But he would keep his guard up. He wasn't going to make the same mistake as Fredrick.

* * *

Marionette pushed open the door that led into Foxy's bedroom and scanned the area. He had a feeling that Foxy was in here, but he couldn't immediately see where he was. He felt a little deeper and realized Foxy was underneath the bed, but wasn't even sure how he had fit underneath it. Being that the blankets were hanging to the floor, most likely to block Foxy from view, he couldn't see the animatronic as he approached the bed. At this point Marionette was very unimpressed with the other animatronic's behavior.

Assuming that Foxy would realize he wasn't Jeremy, he reached down and started to lift the blanket to peer under the bed. In a sudden instant, Foxy's head popped out with a cry, his hook grasping onto the upper bed to help drag him out from under, to give a bigger jump. Marionette should've expected this to happen, but Foxy still caught him off guard. He visibly jolted back, yanking back his hand and staring at the animatronic. Foxy, who had been prepared to drag himself out and chase his victim, went completely still once he realized it was Marionette and not Jeremy.

He responded to the realization with a sudden shiver and stared blankly at the puppet. Marionette responded with a scolding jolt of static and crossed his arms, his hands grasping on his arms though in a more self-hug. The scare made him a little uncomfortable, but he pressed on.

"Jeremy told me about your little game," he quipped to the fox, tapping his fingers on his arm. "You know, as much as I love playing with Jeremy, I think dragging him into a night-long game of hide and go seek is a step too far." He kept his voice even as he pointed this out.

Foxy was eerily quiet. He slowly started to move out from under the bed, but seemed very cautious, as though he thought Marionette would attack. Marionette was confused, but undeterred. "Now he's out on the couch half-dead. If he gets any worse, I'm going to have to stuff him into something," he didn't really mean it, but the comment went right over Foxy's head. He just continued to stare blankly. "…Are you listening?" Marionette inquired and Foxy didn't respond. He was a blank slate that Marionette couldn't read.

Now the puppet just became convinced that the fox was purposefully ignoring him. Marionette released a huff of exasperation, "Just forget it. I'm sending Jeremy home." He partially raised his hands in dismissal and turned to head out of the room.

The second he was gone, Foxy fell back to sit down on the bed, slouching over as his body betrayed him with a few twitches.

Though out in the living room, Marionette nudged Jeremy awake, lightly poking at his arm. "Jeremy, you need to go home." Jeremy made a groggy noise.

The animatronic considered his choices and decided in the end to just leave Jeremy where he was. It wasn't like he was that concerned anyway. Instead, Marionette's mind was stuck on Foxy's actions, almost obsessed with what the animatronic had done. He knew why it bothered him so much; the distant memories were still fresh enough that he could forgive but not forget. This was basically the same situation with a different target, whether or not Foxy even realized what he was doing. He wouldn't even say anything when he was confronted.

Part of Marionette considered taking more drastic measures. A sudden urge overtook his body along with a wider smile, thinking back to this game that Foxy had been playing. It would be so easy to just…

He approached the couch and gave Jeremy a more firm, telekinetic nudge. "Jeremy, if you don't mind I need to use the living room… Why don't you sleep on my bed?"

By now Jeremy was awake, the feeling of being pushed immediately rousing him to full awareness. "You, uh… Have a bed?"

Marionette gestured over his shoulder, "Second door on the right. It's a little small, but you're welcome to it. It's more comfortable than the couch is, certainly."

The former security guard didn't even ask and instead stood, stumbling into the room, "Thank you. I won't stay much longer…" Once the door shut behind him, Marionette moved right back to Foxy's room and opened the door. The animatronic was still sitting on the bed.

"Well, you've done it now, Foxy!" Marionette dramatically pointed out. "Jeremy's hysterical. He's hid himself over in the back of the house and is waiting for you to find him. I won't be a part of it, I'm going to my room, so you will have to go after him yourself." With that, the puppet slipped out the door and vanished. Foxy was confused by the comment; did this mean that Jeremy still wanted to continue the game? That wouldn't do at this point, this game couldn't continue now. Foxy hobbled into the hallway and headed down towards the bedrooms.

First he entered  _her_ room, checking around to see if Jeremy was present, but he wasn't there. This left the master bedroom and Foxy headed in.

"Lad?" he called in, dropping the pre-recorded messages and becoming a little clearer. He glanced over the room and focused on the closet. "Lad, come out. The game's all over," Foxy murmured and approached the closet. He reached out and opened the closet.

The second he did, out popped a figure out of nowhere, bursting with a sudden chime and a cry of, "Surprise!"

Foxy had not expected Marionette to suddenly appear. He stumbled back in shock, visibly shaken. Marionette, meanwhile, seemed absolutely delighted with chiming chuckling.

"It's not so fun on the other end, is it?... Except for me, of course," Marionette playfully teased. Foxy stared at him in the same surprise. "Oh, Foxy, come on. Don't be a stick in the mud; I got you fair and square. It's no different from what you were doing to Jeremy." And that was the point, to teach Foxy a lesson. Maybe Marionette enjoyed it more than he should of, but he genuinely thought it would show him.

"Aye, Lad… You got ol' Foxy."

Oh dear, Marionette didn't like that reaction. That tone wasn't what he was hoping for.

"Where is Jer'my?" Foxy asked, his voice much more melancholy than the puppet wanted.

"He's in my room, but he could use the sleep," Marionette added in the second part when Foxy turned to head out of the room and down the hall. The fox animatronic headed down the hall and approach the door, fumbling with the doorknob. He eventually got the door open and approached the bed where Jeremy was laying down. He tapped the human with the back of his hook. Jeremy roused, looked back, and stared at Foxy in confusion.

"…What?" Jeremy finally asked, completely confused by why Foxy was suddenly lingering over him. "…Oh, uh, yeah- You go hide, I'll come find you in a minute." He held back a yawn and shuffled into the sitting position. Really, Jeremy wasn't intending to go find Foxy. Instead this was just to distract him and then Jeremy would most likely flee the house. However, Foxy didn't leave.

"Lad, I didn't mean to go so hard on ya," Foxy admitted to the male. "I get a little wrapped in my games. Even Captains fall overboard when they lose their ships." Jeremy just stared at Foxy, eyes widening at the more direct words, and Foxy continued. "Yer free to go. Ya did well, but it's time to shove off.  _Come back to Pirate's Cove_   _when yer ready for adventure."_ He dipped back into his recordings and turned to head out of the bedroom.

Jeremy was too shocked to immediately follow. He headed out into the living room where Marionette already had ventured to. He was kneeling in front of the TV, putting one of this tapes into the receiver. Foxy shuffled in closer and reach out, resting his hand on the puppet's shoulder.

Marionette knew he was there before he touched him, but looked back in confusion at the fox, though one wouldn't have known he was confused from the natural smile on his face. "I didn't expect you back so soon," he pointed out, but from Foxy's behavior he sort of assumed that he somewhat fixed things with Jeremy. "I'm putting in a tape. Want to sit with me and watch?" They hadn't actively watched the show together since they used to play the episodes occasionally in the Pizzeria.

Foxy didn't answer, he just backed towards the couch and sat down on it, watching as soon the colorful cartoon was on the screen. Marionette moved back to sit on the floor beside Foxy, watching the cartoon. Foxy, however, found himself less than interested. Distracting thoughts clawed at his mind as he let things that he didn't want to think about slip through. He looked at the back of Marionette's head and let his mind wander, letting go on his struggle.

* * *

_The steady beeping of the machines reminded him of the ticking of a clock. Counting down the seconds until visiting hours were over, reminding him that they weren't going home together. He had already counted the tiles in the room so it wasn't as though he wanted to do more counting, especially when it was time. Time didn't feel like it mattered anymore. If it did then he would suppose that he was here for at least five hours, maybe more, maybe less. He raised his gaze and stared at the noisy equipment._

_To think that these boxes were what was keeping his brother alive. A bag was full of unknown liquid that slowly fed down a cord and into his brother's arm. It had been blood before, but now they were giving him this fluid instead. It wasn't the only thing having to be coaxed into his body; not if the thick tube in his mouth had anything to say about it. A cord for fluids, a tube for air, a thick bandage to keep everything hidden; the hospital seemed to have figured out everything. Yet his little brother hadn't awoken since he came here._

_He didn't ask whether they put him into this constant sleep or not, he didn't really want to know. Not that they would tell him anyway and his father… He couldn't barely speak to his father now. He didn't even want to look him in the face. He stared at his brother before standing and crossing over to the side of the hospital bed. Getting closer, he noticed how pale his younger brother was, even with the blood transfer now in his small body. He looked so much smaller and more frail than he did before._

_He started to reach out as though he planned to touch him, but then stopped, and dropped his hand limply. It wasn't like he could make it any worse, but he feared that a single touch would send all the machinery haywire. So instead he recoiled once again, taking a step back, his throat tightening. He wanted to say something. Sorry? No, it was a pointless word, it wouldn't do anything. If only saying sorry would suddenly rouse his younger brother, would forgive him of all the torment and pain he put him through over the years._

_Anything he said would be pointless, because he already said enough before, and he had done more than he was supposed to. That loud crunching sound would forever haunt his nightmares, even after his brother came home, whenever his brother would come home. He moved back to the chair and sat down, staring at the bed again and listening to the soft beeping once more. It had all happened so fast. In one moment it went from a stupid game to a horrible catastrophe._

_He made an oath right then and there. Things were going to change from now on. The past was forgotten, he would change, he would be the best big brother that he could be. He would take him to the park and play games with him. He would read him stories and tuck him in. The scaring, the taunting, the names; it was done for good. He would do all of this, he swore, and it would fix what he had done. It would make it better._

_He had no idea what was coming. He didn't even have a chance._


	23. Chapter 23

It had been a few weeks since the trip to Chipper's and since then things had progressed dramatically. After getting ahold of the new building, they began renovations on the Pizzeria immediately. The first step had been to hire workers to build the stage, tear down the prize room doorway to build an archway, and to put in a counter. Once they had finished, the rest of the work was delegated to the three co-owners of the new Pizzeria. Thankfully, the building was mostly ready to return to being a restaurant and most of the things that needed done were things they could handle.

It was the late afternoon, though from how dark it was outside one wouldn't be able to tell, and the day had been devoted to work. Already they had put the wallpaper up; above the chair rail circling the wall they had put wallpaper depicting the ocean and sky, below it was wallpaper that looked like wood, thus giving the illusion of being on a boat. The prize corner had been wallpapered with lighthouse wallpaper instead. They had also moved in the security cameras and started moving in some equipment, like an arcade cabinet that was in working condition.

Mike was currently fiddling with and plugging in some sort of music player that had been found in the warehouse. Once he managed to get it to come on, it started to blare out a music box version of 'Pop Goes the Weasel'. One that sounded suspiciously like the one Marionette would emit. He stopped the music and sent a playful smile back to Marionette, who was sitting on the prize corner's new counter. Marionette and Foxy were mostly brought to the new Pizzeria to become familiar with it. Foxy especially as he was intending to live there.

"Hey, look. It's our song," Mike lightly teased. He could already see Marionette's fingers tapping in a seemingly agitated way. However, by now Mike had figured out that it was an effect of music. Like the music box would put him to sleep, and possibly other renditions of 'My Grandfather Clock', this song would send Marionette into an excitable state. Maybe this was why the puppet occasionally jumped to playing the song. By now Mike recognized it more through excitement than through possible aggression of any kind.

"Let's see what else we have," Mike murmured in an almost challenging way, turning it back on and starting to flip through the songs.

Marionette chirped right back, "Oh, but aren't you supposed to be helping Fritz? Slacking, Mr. Schmidt, I am asham-." His voice cut off with a glitch sounding noise as a new song started playing.

"What is this? I had to have heard it somewhere before," Mike remarked with a smirk, obviously bluffing, as he looked to see the reaction that he would get. The sound was clearly just a music box version of London Bridge.

"Really, I don't know what sort of reaction you're looking for," Marionette remarked, gesturing an arm towards Mike. "If I reacted to every song in a unique way I would never be able to listen to music!" He shrugged dramatically. "And there are much more important things we could be doing. Need I remind you that we're not finished?" Marionette finished as he gestured the other arm to the rest of the room.

Mike stared for a few seconds before the smirk returned, "Do you usually move your arms this much?"

"Of course I do. I'm extremely dramatic with my movements. That's what puppets do," Marionette insisted, but Mike noticed how his arms and hands were fidgeting now that he wasn't moving them.

The security guard turned in his crouching position so that he could sit against the wall. "So let's try to figure out where the sense in this is… So did London Bridge play when you were just coming out of the box, after Pop the Weasel?" The puppet got a look to show how unimpressed he was, not answering as he lightly rocked in place. "No, okay, so… Was there some sort of London Bridge special or something? Maybe during happy hour; people were falling down drunk, you were catching them?"

The second he asked this, it abruptly came to Mike. A wider smile appeared, completely amused, "Wait, no, I get it. Let me guess; this is the music that would play when you handed out gifts."

Marionette's look shifted slightly, as though he was looking off to the side. This confirmed his suspicion and Mike couldn't hold back a brief bit of laughter. "Oh that's cute, we've got to play this more often. The kids will love watching you seize."

"Just turn it off," Marionette fussily commanded. Mike did as told and Marionette's arms relaxed again. "You may find it funny, Mike, but you don't know what it's like to act like a fool depending on what music is playing. The sleeping trouble, the arms, don't even get me started on what happens when the closing theme plays." As he expected, Mike was suddenly fiddling with the stereo. This time Marionette had a smug tone, "Don't even bother, it's not on there! They used to play it over the intercom. Better luck next time."

"I will find this song, mark my words," Mike swore. He then leaned and called out the doorway, "Hey, Fritz, what was the song that-?" Suddenly all the lights in the restaurant died and Mike abruptly fell silent. He already knew it was caused by the same thing causing the darkened skies outside; a thunderstorm had moved in and was preparing to unleash its full potential. He paused and then looked back to the puppet. "Just for my general curiosity; you don't, like, break into a frenzy and eat people when the power dies, right?"

Marionette chimed in amusement, "Oh no, Mike. I save that for the birthday parties!"

Mike decided to ignore the stereo and stood, heading towards the door and looking out. Fritz was midway through unfolding a table in the dark when Mike called to him. "We don't have a generator here, do we?"

Fritz shook his head, "I'm afraid not. Since we're sort of limited, mind helping me move the arcade cabinet in before it rains?" Mike agreed eagerly and hurried out with him to the Freddy van. It was already starting to sprinkle.

"I can't believe this; it's not even raining yet," Mike muttered as he brought around the dolly to tote the arcade cabinet into the restaurant.

"With our luck, we're just in the eye," Fritz remarked as he shoved the arcade cabinet out from inside the van and then struggling to lower it onto the dolly. Somehow the two managed to do this easily enough and rolled it into the pizzeria. They moved it into the designated 'arcade area', which was actually just a corner of the main room that was further from the stage.

They sat it against the wall and Fritz began to fiddle with the power cord. "I don't think that's going to work," Mike pointed out as he turned to face the others. Foxy was fussing around on the stage, fiddling with the Pirate Cove curtains hanging there. Marionette was floating around with a small stack of children drawings, looking for something. Mike had a feeling he knew what he wanted and headed off to their box of supplies, returning with a roll of tape. "Here. This might help," he offered and Marionette accepted it.

"Thank you. I was just thinking that maybe putting these up would ease some of the children. Children are so easily influenced by the fun of other children," Marionette quipped as he taped a scribbled picture of Foxy on the wall. He brought out another one, one of himself, and started to tape it when Mike stopped him.

"Hold on, we've got a problem. This one says 'Freddy Fazbear's Pizza' on it," he pointed out. He looked to the stack, hoping to find a better one, but it soon became apparent that more than one of the posters were imprinted with the Pizzeria's title. "Yeah, this is not going to work. The last thing we need is some parent actually putting together that we are connected with Freddy's."

The puppet didn't look convinced, "But they won't realize that when they see we have the same curtains, same tables, same tablecloths, and the same Fox?" If anything, he was extremely amused while the security guard was less than such. "I'll just scribble it out. Or better yet, it's on the bottom of the posters; I'll just cut it off. Nobody will even notice!" He handed over the posters and floated off.

"There should be scissors in that box," Mike pointed out and then began to cycle through the posters. Regardless of them having the other Pizzeria's name, the idea did make a lot of sense. He looked to the picture of Marionette; it was of the puppet kneeling and handing a gift to a child.  _"I wonder if he misses it. I sort of assumed the animatronics would hate tending to kids all the time, but he seems pretty excited about all of this… Hey, at least that means they're not stuck doing this for us alone."_ The black and white animatronic returned.

"This is pretty close to the real thing," Mike remarked. "But it's missing all the pink."

Marionette smiled regardless, but seemed a little confused, "If you mean my lips and cheeks, they're red, not pink." He took the poster and began to snip off the name of the restaurant.

"I'm looking at them right now, Mari. They're pink." The animatronic dismissed it quickly as he taped the poster to the wall, low enough to not give away the 'ocean' illusion.

"They only look pink in this light. I promise you, they're more red than pink…. And, done!" The poster was now secured beside the Foxy one. He looked over the two with a more eager smile and grabbed the third one.

"If that's the case, then your paint's fading," Mike spoke as he studied Marionette's face a little more closely. "I'm guessing the pink was painted on and isn't an actual separate piece, right?" The puppet casually reached upwards and brushed his cheek. It had been a long time since he had concerned himself about how presentable he was. Recently it had been the last thing on his mind, but now it did return to his thoughts.

"I may need to repaint it. I haven't had a new coat since… Goodness, it had to be right before one of my last parties." Remembering back, he knew for a fact that it had been his father who applied the paint. Nobody else in the restaurant wanted to get that close. The only reason Marionette knew, though, was because the music box had wound down while his father was finishing the job. Of course, Marionette didn't react in any way, but he had felt especially confident performing that day with his colors brightened.

"I could do it," Mike offered. Before Marionette could accept of object, he mostly looked over with a slight tinge of surprise, Mike turned back to Fritz. "Do we have any sort of paint?"

Fritz wasn't very visible in the shade behind the cabinet, still fiddling with something, "It's in the van!"

With that, Mike was off to the van. By now the clouds had opened and it began to downpour outside. As such, Mike returned quickly with a plastic container filled with pain tubes and supplies, already partially drenched. "The lights have been off for, what, ten minutes and it only now rains?" Mike headed back towards the Prize Corner, beckoning Marionette. "It'll be easier if you're sitting down, so the counter seems like the best option." Once in the Prize Corner, Mike turned on his flashlight and tried to figure out where he was going to set it down or if he was going to have to hold it.

Marionette sat down on the counter attentively, "I appreciate this, Mike, but you don't have to do this if it's going to make you uncomfortable." Mike got a reassuring smile and flashed it to the puppet.

"I think once you get to the point that we are we can handle it. I'm painting your face, not hotwiring you…" Mike then got a suddenly thoughtful look, narrowing his eyes a bit. "…But I probably could do that."

Marionette chimed in amusement and waved him off, "Don't get any ideas, Mike."

Mike then followed with a smirk, "Then again, if I really wanted that much control then I'd get your cross out of your box."

Marionette gasped in mock surprise, clasping his cheeks in horror, "You wouldn't!"

"I will if you touch your face again. I don't know if this stuff with stain fabric, so once it gets on you can't touch anything until it's dried." He took a stained paper plate out of the supplies. Apparently it had been used before as a makeshift palate, and Mike used it to mix some of the bright red and softer pink colors into the appropriate hue. Once he was sure it matched well enough, he brought it over and sat it on the counter. "Since I'm going to have to hold the flashlight with my free hand, you're going to have to stay as still as you can."

"I think I can manage," Marionette remarked as he watched Mike find an appropriate paintbrush, point it with his lips, immediately cringe at a taste, and then dip it in paint on the plate. Before he could get started, he abruptly changed plans. "Wait… How about you hold the light like you held the camera. It'll give you something to do," Mike offered and the puppet silently agreed, aiming the flashlight towards himself. Nothing felt strange to him about this. Not the light, not the paint, not when Mike grasped his shoulder, and not from him being awake.

And then came that first stroke of the paintbrush over his right cheek. What should've been a simple motion felt strangely precise. Of course, his face was always sensitive, but the dragging of the bristles over his porcelain made him want to shiver. He didn't do it, he held out as Mike continued to fill in his cheek with a fresh layer of paint. The security guard didn't notice anything at all and was simply focused on the task at hand. He applied cold glob of paint from re-dipping the paintbrush, then worked to spread it over the porcelain.

The soft motions finally finished and gave Marionette only a moment of respite. In only a moment, Mike was now at the other cheek. Once again the pattern repeated and Marionette forced himself to stay calm. He had never had to struggle so hard to stay still. Part of him was half willing to call it off and ask Mike to put him under for it. He would make an excuse about the coldness, or perhaps just the awkward situation, or just anything. Yet he couldn't even speak; the only think that wouldn't disrupt anything and he couldn't do it.

The flashlight light trembled in his hold. This was finally noticed by Mike, "Everything okay?" It was so easy to say 'no', so easy, and yet his voice betrayed him.

"I was distracted. It's fine, keep going," Marionette insisted. So Mike did, not noticing anything, and continued to paint his other cheek. The brush strokes were soft and precise, and Mike was clearly trying to make it look good. Just knowing he cared that much did delight the puppet; he was glad to have his trust rewarded like this. However, the stifled sensation continued to progress. Then Mike moved to the last section that needed to be painted. He moved his hand from the puppet's shoulder lift his face.

"It's not much longer. I'm almost there," Mike promised. Now he was noticing discomfort, but saw it through his head shifting downwards and his upper body leaning back a little. He assumed that between the motion and the telekinesis, he was becoming either bored or tired. Mike looked more intently as he raised the paint brush to the lower lip, slowly starting to paint it. This was the last spot; he had to be careful.

Marionette could barely stand sitting still at this point. The touch on his mouth was indescribable, he couldn't even tell what exactly it felt like. Either way, he could feel something winding inside, maybe his strings. He knew his pulse would be racing if he had one and he fought back the urge to produce music, to outburst in some way and stop the sensation. Yet he was now held still by Mike's hand and he couldn't move again or he would feel it. Yet he almost did when suddenly the lights all came back on.

The Prize Corner was alit once more, which only made Marionette's hold on the flashlight shiver. Mike's smile returned, "Only a few minutes too late. You can just set the light down; I'll get it in a minute." The puppet attempted to do so, but as the paintbrush stroked over his porcelain face he released his hold on the flashlight, which fell to the floor with a soft clanging. Mike's eyes slid to the side as though partially interested, but he didn't even decide to look back. He instead watched his work, "We're almost done."

Marionette was pretty certain that Mike talking was making it so much worse. He couldn't help but stare at him, knowing that if he moved at all that Mike would have to notice something was wrong. They were stuck in such a close position, where the human would be able to see any subtle differences on his face, in his motions, which left him mostly transparent. The hand on his face was both a comfort and made the feeling more intense, making him feel a bit more trapped. It was so claustrophobic, even for someone living in a box.

He lost what control he had and grasped onto Mike's wrist, on the arm that was holding his face still, which had only recently been revealed again from his cast being removed. His black fingers tightened their hold in a desperate fashion and clung to the comfort that came to move. Mike didn't seem bothered by it. In fact, his grasp eased just a little while he quickened his pace through the last section of the painting. Then came the last stroke of the brush and the task was finished. Mike set the paintbrush aside, turned Marionette just a little to check the color in the light, and smiled confidently.

"Alright, we're done," Mike announced. His now free hand grasped Marionette's shoulder to keep him from toppling. "That wasn't so bad, was it? It looks a lot better… It still looks pink, but it's easier to see." There was a cheekiness in his voice and Marionette seemed to recover quickly.

"We'll just see about that whenever I can find a mirror. It feels like everything is where it should be," he pointed out. "Just make sure it dries or it's going to smear," Mike warned, giving a pat on the shoulder and pulling back once again.

"I'm going to go put this back, unless you need anything else painted." Mike gathered the supplies and started out of the room. "There's mirrors in the bathroom if you want to check." Then he stepped out and headed off somewhere. The second he was gone, Marionette slouched forwards, a hand clutching his chest over his buttons. He let his body shiver and tremble, though the sensation was much less prominent. He frantically went through his thought, assessing what he could about himself, and struggling to figure out how and why he had acted so oddly

It couldn't be the face painting. Painting couldn't bother him like that, he assumed. It wasn't as though he hadn't been painted before. Music box or not, the action shouldn't have been so jarring…Unless it wasn't the action, but Mike himself. Marionette disproved this thought almost instantly; he was too close to Mike to be rendered in such a state by something as simple as this. He raised his hand, only remembering at the last second that his paint was still wet and tugging it away. He was just so flustered and couldn't understand how to deal with it.

Shortly, Marionette recovered enough to drag himself out of the Prize Corner and enter back into the main dining room. This effort was rewarded with insight onto what Mike and Fritz were now talking about.

"But her family used to own a restaurant, so if she's going to be working here she might be able to set us up with a cook," Mike explained to the technician. Marionette didn't have to even hear the entire conversation to know he was talking about Natalie. Maybe it was the previous frazzled behavior talking, but he was rather unconvinced by the idea.

"I might give her a call then… But first, I need to move in the rest of the stuff. The van's not exactly leak proof," Fritz headed to the door to do so, starting to move stuff in.

The puppet confronted Mike, his arms cross casually while his voice held a heavy suspicion. "I'm sure she's wonderful and everything, but don't you think it's a little risky bringing her in on our affairs?"

Mike quipped a brow, but didn't exactly look surprised that Marionette had complained. "Why? You have a problem with Natalie?... I mean, more than you do with everyone else."

"Oh no, Natalie's fine." Natalie wasn't fine. "It's her father getting involved. To be blunt, if he starts coming around trying to attack people, then I'm going to have to kill him." He said it straight, like someone would say a sort of joke. It absolutely was not a joke. Though before Mike could respond, Marionette was abruptly reminded that Foxy was still there.

"Was she the Lass whose house we were at?" Foxy inquired, seemingly more distracted by the arcade cabinet.

This caught Mike's attention immediately. "You went  _to her house_?"

"I didn't do anything. We were just passing through and I was curious," Marionette shrugged off. "Nobody saw me, nothing happened."

This didn't sate Mike and he gave a disappointed look, but he moved on to the more important matter. "You knew we were going to have to hire more people. Not that many more, but getting someone here who know how to run an actual restaurant and someone else who can cook is important."

Again, Marionette seemed to shrug it off, "I could do it in my spare time. I can cook."

"You can bake," Mike corrected. "…But actually, yeah, I'll leave the baking to you. I've become addicted to the five o'clock sugar rush I get from your cupcakes." He knew exactly what he was doing and knew, when he could hear lighter tone from Marionette's voice, that he could probably pacify him. Regardless of the jokes, Mike did know how to pull Marionette's strings a little bit. As long as the puppet didn't feel too left out he was sure he would be able to get him more comfortable. It worked enough with Jeremy and Fritz.

"Thank you. I know what I'll be doing tonight," Marionette remarked. He then paused and sighed in defeat. "I shouldn't be acting like this when you just went out of your way to help me. Fine, I have no problem with Natalie working here… Just keep in mind that she will figure out what's going on." Mike decided not to mention how much he told Natalie about. It just seemed like an inappropriate time. "And her father could get involved again. Especially if you hand out jobs to her family members. He might be trouble."

"I'll handle it. It's not like he can really do anything, and if he does I'll take care of it. And if anyone else figures out about us… I'll just have to tell them that Scary Mari the puppet lives in my house and spends his free time robbing graves with Foxy the Pirate," Mike swore with a playful smile. Marionette wasn't fully calmed, so he took a more serious tone. "It's not your job to worry about that, alright? You're going to have enough to deal with when you're surrounded by fifty kids who all want free stuff." This worked a little better.

Fritz came back inside then, soaking wet and carrying more stuff. "I'm going to need a little help," he requested. Mike didn't need to get any more hints and headed over to help the other man. Marionette watched him leave, still feeling torn between the odd painting feeling and the Natalie situation. Something was definitely changing and Marionette wasn't sure if he was comfortable with whatever it was. "Look at this," Foxy beckoned him over to the arcade machine. Marionette didn't know if he had turned it on or if it came on by its own.

He remembered the game 'Sit N' Survive' from years before. It was one of the few arcade games that actually gave out prize tickets, though getting tickets out of it was incredibly difficult. The game had been notorious for its spike in difficulty, so it was a miracle that it was the one that had survived. Marionette always assumed someone would 'accidently' throw a brick through its screen. Or that children would eventually mob it and drain it of whatever tickets it kept hostage.

"How long's it been since we've played this?" Foxy asked nostalgically as he started to fiddle with the controls to check the high score. He somehow was able to handle the controls even with a hook. The high scores had unsurprisingly been erased. "Ah, I lost a trove of tokens to this game back in the day…" he glanced around, seemingly looking to see if any coins or tokens were left out. "Be a good lad and help me find some." Marionette could only chime in amusement and headed off to do as asked. At least it would keep him distracted.

Next thing he knew, he was halfway through a box by the back door, finding nothing that would even pass as a token. Mike kept bringing things in, but it didn't necessarily help. "Care to switch?" Mike eventually stopped to ask. Marionette turned his head wearily, though still had his usual smile. He basically gave a silent 'no', and Mike reacted by reaching into the box he was carrying and revealing a plastic bag that was clearly full of tokens. "But I have my price, you know. You got your freebee with the painting."

Marionette wasn't sure why, but Mike reminding him of the event only sent an awkward pang of embarrassment through him. He gave a vocal sigh and placed his hands on his hips, "What do you want?"

"You know what I want," Mike coaxed. Unfortunately, Marionette did know.

"It's 'Les cloches du Monastere' and I dance for the children." He reached out his hand and Mike handed over the bag of tokens.

"You're lucky I'm not going to remember that for more than a few minutes," Mike added in before watching Marionette float off in the direction of Foxy. Then, after setting down the box, he made a beeline directly for Fritz to inquire about the song. It wasn't like they would be able to work much longer; the power would probably die again any second.

Mike assumed that he needed to enjoy it while it lasted.


	24. Chapter 24

By the time Mike and Marionette had gotten home, it was at least nine-thirty. The storm was still pouring down outside, but there was a sort of comfort in returning to the safety of their home. Especially when, unlike the Pizzeria building, the electricity wasn't at as much of a risk of flickering. Or they hoped that it wasn't. The first thing Mike did was start to search out the candles and spare batteries for the flashlight, just in case the lights did go out. Marionette was a lot less proactive; sliding onto the loveseat and leaning against the back while watching Mike.

Foxy hadn't came back with them. Between his obsession with Sit N' Survive and his sudden desire to work on the Pizzeria, he had simply made the call and hadn't returned with them. Marionette didn't think it would bother him and, in a way, it didn't. He was glad that Foxy had something to do and was certain that he could hold his own. It was... Other things that were dwelling on his mind. He watched Mike wander around and let his mind return to the Pizzeria, to his return to the small spotlight, and to Mike and whatever happened earlier.

Since the face painting, Marionette hadn't had any sort of weird reaction appear, but he also hadn't forgotten the incident. On the positive side, Mike had done a good job on his face paint. It was worth the bizarre trembling. He watched the man set the candles out on the counter and then take a microwave dinner out of the freezer. It didn't seem like he was avoiding him or anything, so he was probably still oblivious to what happened earlier. Mike was usually extremely observant so Marionette hoped that he had simply excused it as nothing.

This made the puppet also start to relax and push the incident into the back of his mind. He instead flicked on the TV and searched around for something, eventually stopping on a 'scary' movie. Considering Marionette's situation, he didn't exactly find these movies much more than amusing. It seemed to be some sort of ghost film, or they simply hadn't showed the monster yet, and consisted of many people mostly running around in fear. For a split second he envisioned the same scenario on the opening day of the pizzeria.

Mike collapsed on the other side of the couch, fiddling with whatever he had cooked. It was too late to really make an actual dinner, so this was it, and it wasn't even required to be at the table. Mike didn't say anything about the film and just silently watched it as he ate. For a while it went fine. A few chiming chuckles were triggered by the goofy antics that were supposed to be scary. Mike gave a few humming noises in agreement whenever Marionette made a comment. Then, eventually, the TV basically shut down out of nowhere.

While the power was still on, somehow the cable had been taken out, which left the two now standing at a blank TV. Mike didn't even make an attempt to pretend like he was going to do it; he just tried to focus on finishing his meal.

"I'm guessing it finally got them?" Marionette quipped playfully and rose from the couch, hovering into the kitchen to work on a new project.

Mike called in after him, "It was about time. It wasn't like any of them were making an attempt to actually  _leave_ the house or anything." He sat the food container aside and laid down on the couch in a relaxed manner.

It hadn't occurred to Mike until today that he was a little out of shape. He looked the same as ever, but after moving so much stuff he had a multitude of muscles that were more sore than they had ever been. He could hear Marionette going through the pantry and then the beep of the oven as it was turned on to preheat. He was baking; Mike wasn't surprised, but it was sort of nice to hear sounds, recognize the sounds, and be able to let them go without rushing to check them. If anything, the puppet could handle an oven on his own.

Marionette quickly opened a box of chocolate cupcake mix and dumped it into a mixing bowl. He had actually been looking forward to this; it always calmed his nerves to do something so simple and rewarding. It wasn't until he had added the rest of the ingredients that Mike got up from the couch and sat down at the dining room table, watching him work. He lazily rested his head on his arm, the non-recovering one, and watched the animatronic go through the motions. "…So can I ask you something without you getting offended?"

"Mmm-hmm," Marionette hummed back attentively.

"I know movies like that are far from what really goes on. You and the others are pretty much proof of that. I've got a few questions," Mike was clearly hesitant. Casual sounding or not, Mike was walking on eggshells, trying not to upset the other. On the contrary, Marionette felt an overwhelming eagerness at being asked. If anything, it felt great to correct what was the standard opinion, what with the movies and such. The floodgates opened and a flow of questions followed.

Most of them were about the mechanics of spirits and the difference between a normal soul and a trapped one. This led to its own branch that became a little more difficult for Marionette to answer. Anything involving souls that moved on, or the afterlife, was an unknown. Thankfully, Mike reeled it in a bit more. By time Marionette filled the cupcake cups and put them in the oven, Mike onto a more direct subject. "So basically, what you're saying it that you can't haunt a building?"

"I could certainly pretend, but to actually haunt a house, become one with a house, I wouldn't be able to have my body. There's only so much that one soul can do, and I don't want to risk my own body," Marionette explained.

Mike raised a brow, "I get it. It's a sort of trade off. Does that mean that thing in the warehouse doesn't have a body?"

Marionette gave a shrug, "I don't see how it could. It's all a manner of juggling energy and it would have to use a lot of energy for what it does. Besides, I think I would be able to recognize it."

"You haven't even seen this. I have to show you that footage tape some time," Mike remarked.

Marionette didn't seem too surprised, "Spirits can be incredibly unpredictable and aggressive."

Mike seemed pretty amused by the comment, "And other times they bake, right?"

The black and white animatronic quipped back teasingly, "You don't know how lucky you are, Mike. I just happened to outgrow my unpredictable and aggressive stage." He then seemed to get a little quiet for a few seconds before adding, "But you know I still could do that."

"Do what?" Mike asked back.

"Be aggressive and unpredictable if need comes to it. I choose to be like this; it's not that I lost my ability. It's not that I've become weak without practice. It's just that I don't need to be anymore. Him, he's gone, so what's the point of hunting anyone else?" Mike decided not to make a sarcastic or joking comment at the moment. The puppet didn't seem upset, but it didn't feel like the time to correct him when he was saying something like this. It was very defensive, but Mike knew the feeling. It wasn't like he was still working at Freddy's either.

"And maybe  _sometimes_ I get the urge to do something, anything, but I'm very much in control of myself. I'm my own puppeteer," the animatronic trailed off, tapping on the table and seemingly lost in thought.

"And you've… Never seen a spirit outside of the other animatronics?" Mike tried to change the subject.

The puppet gave a hum. "I… Have felt them, but I've never communicated with them. They're too far for me to hear, and they probably don't want to risk being trapped here."

This piqued Mike's interest, "But you do?"

Marionette chimed slightly, "I'm comfortable where I am."

There was a brief silence over the two. Then the puppet stretched out his arms and pushed back from the table. As he headed to the pantry, Mike suddenly felt a nagging concern in his gut at exactly how the other worded that.  _"What was that supposed to mean? Is that supposed to be a 'don't worry about it' sort of thing, or is it some sort of sign. If things get bad, am I just going to wake up one morning and just find him gone? How… Would that even work? Great, so now I have to worry about him suddenly deciding he'd rather be dead… Considering our luck, it's bound to be any day now. Maybe after our first lawsuit at the Pizzeria."_

Bitterness was sinking into his thoughts.  _"I think I'm pretty fed up with everyone dropping dead around me."_ He didn't know what he would think if he woke one morning and Marionette was just gone. He had become so accustomed to him and for him to just be gone again. As he watched Marionette open the icing container, he cleared his throat. "Any chance of you just disappearing?" It was an odd question to the animatronic, but Mike suddenly found it come out. "You know, you're not just going to 'move on' out of nowhere, right? I'd like some warning first."

Marionette paused, then responded without looking back. "I wouldn't exactly 'disappear'. My body would just be unresponsive. That's how it happened to Goldie," his voice was blank during these two sentences. "…But… You would know." He then broke in with a chuckling chime, "After all, it's not every day that hell freezes over."

Mike couldn't help but crack a smile and feel his concern melt. He leaned back in the chair and watched as Marionette waited the last few minutes before taking the cupcakes out and setting them to cool. The puppet patiently watched them, seemingly knowing the exact second that the chocolate pastries would be ready to ice.  _"_

 _He's probably got some sort of inner clock that tells him when they're ready. Or maybe something like that,"_ Mike got an amused smile and continued to watch. Marionette hummed softly, light chiming in his voice as he does so, and he gets the icing ready to begin. He only had the pink colored vanilla left and knew he would have to ask Mike to get more whenever he went shopping again. He could hear Mike stand from the table, but continued to watch the cupcakes.

That was, until Mike was suddenly standing behind him. Marionette was a little confused, but didn't react at first. Then an arm started to move around him. Marionette watched it slowly inch around him, clearly Mike, and he started to feel a growing tenseness. The puppet's hands tightened on the oven as his internal chimed out of tune, clearly audible, and just watched what Mike was doing, thinking he would suddenly grab ahold of him. The feeling immediately evaporated when he realized exactly what Mike was going for, the not yet iced cupcakes.

Marionette immediately grabbed the icing spatula and swatted at his arm. Mike moved his arm back and leaned on the counter, "They're just cupcakes, Mari. I think you can spare one." He gave a playful smirk and Marionette responded by nudging the tray away from him, then moved the icing tub closer. Just as quickly as the discomfort began it was over, and the suspicion had gone with it. Yet as Marionette handed over the icing spatula, he didn't exactly trust Mike's icing skills enough to use a butter knife, he did a little self-analyzing.

Maybe it had been the conversation, but Marionette had never been uncomfortable to be in close vicinity with Mike. In fact, he had been multiple times on multiple occasions. Today had only been one of numerous times when the security guard had actively touched, assisted, or tended to him, so today's earlier event had been odd. This one was not as weird, but it was clear that something was still there. He didn't even know what he suspected Mike was doing; it was obvious that he was trying to swipe something and wasn't even reaching towards Marionette.

Now, normally this would make sense, especially if it was anyone other than Mike. Before him, he wasn't used to being touched, and didn't enjoy it when he was. This was mostly because the risk of discovering his sentience was just too high. That, and at one point everyone started to look too purple for his liking. These multiple oddities with Mike just didn't make sense. He trusted him, he was confident that he wouldn't hurt him, so the sudden change confused him. He fought it down, insisting that it was just a result of today, and focused on the cupcakes.

Marionette tried to keep the image of normality and only betrayed some of his own weird behavior after the cupcakes were finished. Out of nowhere he suddenly asked, "I'm exhausted. Mind winding my box?"

Mike seemed a little confused, "It's a little early. You sure you don't want to watch another- Eh, I guess the TV's dead for the moment." The security guard didn't protest further, grabbed a cupcake, and lead the animatronic to his bedroom. Marionette assumed that the quicker he got into his box, the quicker he would recover from the jolt from today. Tomorrow was another day.

* * *

_It was so cold. The smell of metal was thick in the air, but he couldn't tell what type of metal it was or if it was really metal at all. It was just so cold. As he wandered down the hall, he could see his own shadow falling before him and landing on the further door. It was tall and thin; he was in his proper body and unhandicapped. He approached the door at the end of his hall, which contrasted greatly with the rest of the metal surrounding him. It was only a wooden door like one would see in a house. He wondered if he had seen it before._

_He turned the knob without touching it and watched as the door swung open, then floated inside. The room was pitch black, but the source of the coldness was coming from here. He felt no fear as the lights suddenly flickered on. For a second he was blinded, but then he was suddenly faced by the being in the room… And it wasn't what he expected at all. A monster, a sign, something. Instead, it was a familiar child, or teen. He sat on the ground and reclined casually against the back wall. He wasn't injured, he wasn't bloody, he wasn't a ghost, he was just a kid._

_In fact, he knew this kid, and recognized his voice. "Aren't you the kid who always hides under the table and cries?" At hearing the kid's question, he felt the uncontrollable urge to give a pointed frown and the most unimpressed look he could muster._

_T_ _he kid laughed in a jolly, but cruel manner. "No one else is scared! Why are you? Stop being such a baby!" T_

_he kid continued to laugh as he turned and floated back towards the door, passing through and closing it behind him. With the same frown and an overwhelming feeling of annoyance, he continued down the hall…_

* * *

It might have not been a nightmare, but it woke him regardless. Unlike the disturbing dream from before, Marionette didn't wake full of despair and fear. He instead woke with the same annoyance he felt in the dream. Now he would have to get his music box rewound, get out of his box, get back into his box, and all for a memory that, frankly, wasn't important enough to remember. It left a bitter taste in his mouth and he slipped out of his box. By now Mike had to be asleep, so it seemed quicker and less bothersome if he just wound it himself.

He carried the music box to himself with his telekinesis as he moved over towards the bed, sitting down on it and resting the music box in his lap. Doing this in the box would've been an uncomfortable mess. Marionette laid his hand on the handle and tried to quickly wind it. Unfortunately, there was one problem with this method, and that was that even with the cranking noise he could hear the music as he wound it. He started to dip out of consciousness, scrambling to finish the winding, and having it suddenly fall out of his hands and to the floor.

Then Marionette collapsed onto the bed.

* * *

" _Aren't you the kid who always hides under the table and cries?" The kid's question sounded even more patronizing the second, or third, time hearing it. Marionette frowned once again and crossed his arms. You would think that the kid couldn't recognize him as he was now, but somehow he did. He couldn't remember the kid's name no matter how hard he tried. "_

_No one else is scared! Why are you? Stop being such a baby!" With the chastising quote over, Marionette desired to point out that he had a reason to be scared, to defend himself, but he couldn't._

_At first he was determined not to leave. He stared down the kid and waited for him to say more. Yet he didn't; he just stared at Marionette with a frozen smile, seemingly stuck after his looped comment finished. It became a staring contest between the two before finally Marionette turned to leave, exiting the door and…_

* * *

The puppet knew he hadn't been asleep long. From the awkward position, he believed that perhaps he woke as soon as the box shut off, which was still laying on the floor. He fought the urge to groan, he didn't really want to make much noise so late at night, and lifted the music box in frustration. After a few moments of staring at it, he moved it towards its previous spot by the lamp, not getting up at all as he did so. It wasn't like the thing was going to work for him anyway, so it was best just to try and sleep without it.

A sudden flare of annoyance passed and the music box jolted forwards a bit too fast. It struck the lamp with a loud clanking noise. The lamp then toppled off of its wooden pedestal and fell to the floor with a thump. Marionette stared at it for a few seconds, taking in the sudden noise with a blank look, and then rolled over to face the wall. He was just giving up; the night had turned into a disaster. As though it couldn't get worse, soon afterwards he heard footsteps down the hall. Now he gave a static filled groan and yanked the pillow over his face in a pout.

In the last second he had, he grappled out and grabbed the Golden Freddy plush, tugging it against his chest.

The door then opened and Mike looked in. "Something up?" he asked tiredly. It was obvious from his faded voice that he had been asleep. He eventually saw the lamp on the floor and sighed; something definitely happened. He approached the bed, noticing that the puppet was on it instead of in his box. He noticed the plush being held in his grasp and sighed, "Alright, something's wrong. You've got your bear with you."

"Nothing's wrong," Marionette protested. "I accidently knocked over the lamp. That's all. I'm sorry to wake you." His voice betrayed his frustration and Mike sat down on the bed behind him.

"Don't worry about it, but I'm not leaving until you tell me what you're pouting about."

In response, Marionette gave a small snap, "I'm fine, Mike. I'm not always going through a catastrophe that you have to come in and fix." In response, Mike just raised a brow, unfazed by the outburst. There were a few moments of silence.

"…I had a weird dream… It's not a nightmare, it's not troubling me, but it keeps waking me back up and it's extremely grating. It's already occurred twice and has worn by patience thin," Marionette finally explained to Mike. "The lamp was an accident though. I didn't want to wake you."

The security guard insisted, "That's what I'm here for. It's not like you're the only one whose had bizarre dreams." Then, out of nowhere, Mike concluded with an offer, "You can come stay with me if you want." The puppet felt eagerness swell inside.

"…It wouldn't bother you?" he checked as he felt Mike stand from the bed. "No. Let me just get the box." Marionette knew he meant his box, not the music box, and wasn't exactly eager to climb back in. However, it was better than nothing. Mike started to move the box a little, but stopped the second his lower back started to protest.  _"If this is this bad now, what am I supposed to do when I actually get old?"_ he mentally complained. He stared at the box in distain; almost like he thought it was secretly mocking him in his inability to move it.

"…Second thought; just crash in the bed with me. It's too late to start projects." Or Mike took the easy way out. Marionette didn't complain and rose from the bed, bringing the Golden Freddy plush with him. Mike cringed at seeing it, "And you're bringing him."

Marionette smiled to him, a teasing tone in his voice, "What's wrong, Mike? Jealous of a teddy bear?" Mike made a dismissive noise; almost like a scoff, but a little too flat.

" _You wouldn't be asking that if you could smell the damn thing,"_ Mike mentally remarked. "You could only wish, Mari."

* * *

_It was a sunny day and a group of children were batting around a balloon in the parking lot of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Marionette watched them until Mike wandered over. "_

_Bad news, I've got to go get more pizza. All of the ovens caught on fire and it's just not going to work." He pulled a bicycle off of his back, where he had been carrying it, and began to unfold it as the puppet grabbed his arm. "I can't watch the kids by myself! They'll run off, there's too many of them!" Mike insisted, "It'll just be a couple of minutes. Make sure they don't leave."_

_The moment Mike peddled off, Marionette turned to find the children gone. He realized the balloon had blown away and they must have followed it, even though not seeing any of it, and started to search for them. He wandered into a backyard where a couple of elderly ladies were sitting and found one of the children hiding between them. "_

_There you are! Now go back to the Pizzeria," Marionette instructed. The child nodded and hurried off as though it was nothing. The black and white animatronic crawled under a fence to look for more._ _There was a wide highway on the other side of the fence and Marionette arrived just in time to see the kids running on the other side. Yet just as he tried to float across the street, hundreds of cars started to zoom by. He frantically tried to find another way across and it was when he approached a crosswalk that he spotted something familiar._

_There, leaning against a fence, was the same kid or teen that he had recognized before. He was still laughing as he had before. "Aren't you that kid who always hides under the table and cries?"_

_Marionette was exasperated by now. Unlike the rest of the dream, seeing the kid made him suddenly remember that he was in fact dreaming. Seeing the male once more only reminded him of his previous frustrations._

_Before he could finish, Marionette turned and tried to float away. He felt his body shift and watched as he spun around, frozen in place as he stared at the kid. The kid's face clenched and he flung himself forwards, crawling fast across the ground towards the animatronic. He then grabbed ahold of a striped leg; his fingers were ice cold._

" **Don't walk away from me!"**

* * *

Marionette didn't awaken feeling annoyed this time; he awoke feeling violated. He could still feel the ice cold fingers still around his leg and he yanked it closer to feel over it. There was no hand, no boy, but he still felt him as though he was there. He gave a slight shiver at the sensation and soon returned to a quiet calmness. Again, the sensation in him was not fear, but a sort of dread that came with the act of losing control. That dream, or nightmare, had grabbed him by the strings and forced him to dance the way it wanted.

And the hand on the cross had been the cold hand of the kid; the kid who he hadn't seen in years, who he couldn't even remember the name of, yet still reappeared three times. Through the darkness he stared at his Golden Freddy plush, raising it from under the blanket to stare in the darkness. This was one of those times that he wished he could actually speak to Goldie and receive answers back. Yet Goldie was gone… Marionette turned onto his back and glanced across the space of bed to the other person laying with him.

Marionette didn't like feeling childish. Drawing, watching his cartoons, fondly doting on his plush collection; they were all things that he could write off as hobbies. Needing someone to comfort him after a nightmare was definitely a regression, and he still was embarrassed of his behavior during his last one. He had been rendered a babbling fool, a baby- That comparison was a lot worse when coming from himself. Even though tonight he was more uneased then frightened, more unsettled than overcome by despair, he wanted to wake Mike.

He shook it off; as it was, Mike tended to him enough. He needed sleep while Marionette could go without. Which sounded like a good idea, as he continued to have these dreams and they didn't seem like they were preparing to stop anytime soon. He still found himself releasing his grip on the plush and sliding a little closer to the human. Not to wake him, but to take comfort in being closer and being safe. It was an ironic contrast considering that the situation earlier had been clearly reversed, yet it didn't surprise him.

Wanting to be closer to Mike felt normal. It felt human. So if that was what he needed to get over whatever that dream was then so be it. Twice today he had been uncomfortable from some sort of close vicinity. Tonight he thrived off of it more than anything else. Maybe that was better than wondering about meaningless questions.

Or maybe he just didn't want to hear the answers.


	25. Chapter 25

Morning came way earlier than Marionette could've ever expected. He hadn't slept, just laid their dismally in the bed and waited for the sun to rise, and eventually it did. Soon after, Mike got out of bed and went to take his shower. The puppet had faked being asleep and covered himself entirely with the blankets, so Mike hadn't even noticed that he was awake. Then for what had to be at least an hour and at most two, Marionette had laid there in the bed and simply soaked in the warmth that he could. He felt too lethargic to do much more than that.

Once he decided he was finished laying around, Marionette forced himself out of the bed and down the hall. He knew he had gotten too used to sleep by the way he reacted to the loss of it. Back in the Pizzeria he rarely needed to sleep, though this was possibly because of the music box keeping him dormant for so long. As he peered into the kitchen, he could see Mike on the phone, eating a cupcake. He raised the dessert in a greeting before responding to the person on the phone, "And you told her that the place isn't finished, right?"

Marionette raised a hand back and silently headed over to the living room window. He used his fingers to spread the blinds and stare out at the sunny day outside.

"You mean a miracle, actually," Mike cynically remarked into the phone. He then sighed, "Alright. I guess we don't really have a choice. Hey, this is what we're planning on doing, right? I'll run it by Mari and come down to help out. Try not to lift anything heavy until I get there." Mike ended the call abruptly afterwards and exhaled, leaning back in his chair.

"Is Fritz already calling you back to work?" the puppet asked in a slight playfulness. He was still a little too sluggish to completely return to his playful demeanor.

"You don't even know the half of it," Mike muttered. "We've got a gig."

At first Marionette didn't understand what he meant. It could've been him being slowed down from weariness, but it took a few seconds for him to inquire back. "…What?"

The security guard continued, "Apparently word has already gotten out about us and there's someone wanting us to do their kid's birthday on Friday."

Marionette actually chimed in amusement, "And how exactly are we supposed to do that?" He waved his arm, "Poof! We're all ready to go!" It was a mocking gesture and showed that he clearly wasn't convinced in what Mike was telling him.

That was, until Mike added in with, "She's on the board of education. It doesn't apply to us, but Fritz is pretty sure that this could give us some attention before opening day, so he gave the go ahead. We've got a birthday party on Friday." Mike gave a playful smirk, "Or you do. We're going to have to overcompensate."

The puppet wasn't sure if the excitement in his chest was from fear or happiness, but he reacted positively. This completely pushed every other issue or worry off the table; he and Foxy were finally going to entertain for children once again. It had felt like it had been years, years waiting to be let out of his box to gift and perform, and it was suddenly only a few days until he would be at work again. "This is wonderful!" he gushed and Mike kept the playful smirk, obvious cynicism still oozing out of every gesture.

"Except that we're not ready."

"We have days to spare; that's plenty of time!" Marionette insisted. "It doesn't take much to make children happy on their birthday." Mike was almost willing to agree. There was still doubt in on his face, but it didn't look like he planned to turn the offer down.

He stood from the table and slid his cell phone and keys into his pockets. "I'm heading over there to start working again. You can come or stay here; you might not want to see this disaster in person."

Marionette agreed, "I need to do some planning around here. I'll flicker over later." With that, the plan was made.

For a few days, the routine was very strict and similar. Mike and Marionette had both dedicated their free time to getting the Pizzeria ready for the birthday party. Mike would go over early in the day and would only stop to head in to work. Marionette was the opposite, usually working at home in the morning and heading to the Pizzeria a short while before Mike would head in to work. A few days in and he had been tasked with cleaning and mending some old Foxy plush toys to be given to the kids, as their own merchandise had yet to be produced.

Much of the time in which Mike saw Marionette, he was fast at work on the toys, so in the beginning Mike didn't notice that the puppet's behavior had started to change. The security guard was a little overworked as it was; between moving arcade cabinets during the day and tending to disgruntled office workers at night, he needed all the sleep he could get. It was actually the night before the last day that Mike noticed it. Firstly, he awoke in the middle of the night and, while heading into the kitchen, noticed that Marionette was still awake.

This didn't seem too weird. Mike was groggy and only gave a passing mutter while Marionette chimed back with a friendly tone. The human went back to sleep like it was nothing. It wasn't until he woke in the morning to the blare of his alarm that he realized how odd it was that the puppet was still awake. Marionette's routine was very predictable and he usually sought the comfort of his box in the early hours of the morning. With a guilty conscious, Mike suddenly remembered that he had not wound the music box that night.

It then hit him. He suddenly remembered that Marionette had not asked him to wind the box. He hadn't in days and it wasn't as though the puppet had been staying with him in the bed. Somehow it took until this moment for Mike to suspect that Marionette had not been sleeping. He left the bedroom with suspicion on his mind and went to find the animatronic. He was right where he had been hours before, stitching a Foxy plush, not paying much attention to anything else. Usually he greeted Mike, but this time he didn't notice him until he was at the back of the couch.

"Good morning," Marionette greeted. His voice was pleasant, but surprisingly muted. Maybe it was because of Mike's suspicions, but he swore he could hear tiredness on his voice.  _"_

 _How many days has he been pulling nights like this? Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe he's sleeping during the day."_ Mike leaned over the back of the couch, watching his movements. In the time he watched, the puppet made two stitching mistakes and had to redo them both. This was the first time Mike had ever seen Marionette make a mistake stitching. " _Yeah, no. He's not sleeping."_

He paused for a few minutes, watching Marionette and considering how to approach the subject. Eventually the puppet realized he was still watching him and looked over curiously. "Is something wrong?"

Mike denied it by reflex, "Not really. Just preparing to get going."

Marionette looked down at the box of plush toys. "Most of these are finished if you want to take them with you. I don't know if they're ready for the crane, but they could be handed out to the kids."

"The birthday girl will get one. The others are going to have to work that monstrosity on their own," Mike joked back. The claw machine was actually from Glenn, who was either feeling guilty or still trying to cover his backside through bribery. It worked well enough, but it was old, and quite empty. It was virtually unimportant, now considering that this new problem appeared. Mike decided to be blunt, "Mari… You've been sleeping, right?"

Marionette didn't respond for a few seconds, then answered, "Of course I have! You've seen me."

"But you didn't sleep last night," Mike clarified.

"…No, I didn't, but I needed the time. We only have until tomorrow," Marionette reminded.

"Right… But you didn't sleep the night before either, right?" Mike asked again.

"No, I didn't."

Mike asked this question a couple more times and, every time, the response was the same. He didn't even try lying and soon set the plush down, frustrated after making another stitching mistake. Eventually the man had a good idea what was going on, "So you haven't slept in days and you just don't think it's a problem."

"Mike, I'm an animatronic. We don't have to sleep. We just rest at times, and I've rested quite enough," Marionette insisted. He looked back to the security guard. He didn't buy it for a second.

"If that was true then you wouldn't have been sleeping at all. Don't you have a night mode or something?"

There was a chime of amusement. "You know by now that we don't have 'night modes'. That servos excuse is not true either; it's just for them to explain why they can't shut us down." By now, Marionette was practically babbling, clearly unfocused.

"How exactly are you supposed to perform for kids- I'm not arguing with you," Mike flatly stated. "You're getting some sleep today, alright?" His voice eased enough to be more supportive in its firmness. To his surprise, Marionette reacted with sudden defensiveness.

"I'm fine. I don't need to sleep, I need to get back into the pattern of work. Tomorrow everything changes; I'm an entertainer again. I can't go in unprepared," he answered before staring towards the floor.

Mike leaned over further to mutter to him. "You look like a weasel whose about to get popped. You're going to have to get some sleep or you're not going to be able to handle tomorrow," Mike stated matter-of-factly. Marionette responded with a surge of static and grabbed the Foxy plush again, attempting to repair again. Mike's blue eyes stayed stuck to his back, he knew they were, but eventually the human wandered off and the puppet eased a little bit. Though Mike didn't stay gone long; after standing in the kitchen for a few minutes he perked and then headed off down the hall.

By this point, Marionette stopped paying attention. He really was quite tired after the few days without any sort of sleep, but it wasn't as though he could stand sleeping again. It wasn't too difficult of an option though; as long as the music box was off and he wasn't in bed with Mike he couldn't exactly sleep anyway. Mike returned and dropped a pillow down onto the couch beside him. The puppet stared at it before Mike sat on the other side. "Here's the deal; I get that animatronics are different, so I'll get off your back if you rest."

"Mike-," Marionette began with a complaint on his voice.

"You don't have to sleep. That's why you can just stay on the couch. I just want you to relax for fifteen or twenty minutes. It's not as much as I want, but you're exhausted and you need something," Mike laid out. He did look concerned and the puppet wasn't having much luck with the stitching. Eventually the animatronic gave in and set the plush aside again, then laid down on the couch with his head on the pillow. It was only in the middle of the couch, so his legs hung limply over the armrest.

He looked upwards at Mike who was now sitting there. Then caught a glimpse of a familiar black cross and shot upwards, "What are you doing with  _that_?" He inquired as paranoia seeped into his voice.

Mike gave him a clearly unenthused look, "I'm planning to puppeteer you into sleeping." Following the sarcasm was an actual answer, "I was going to try putting this thing on. You're resting anyway and I'm going to have to know how to make this look legit by tomorrow. We don't want those kids seeing you flying around."

"Are you sure? Because I was planning on that being my act," Marionette responded, a little playfulness returning. His guard dropped without care and he laid back down against the pillow. Mike felt over his shoulders until the strings slid out, or until Marionette let the strings slide out, and only worked with those as he attempted to string the Marionette cross. The puppet knew he couldn't exactly sleep like this, so he relaxed a bit more than he intended, letting his body go entirely limp for a few moments.

"I was thinking of cake," Marionette murmured out of nowhere. "I never was told her favorite kind of cake. That's the most important part of the party." His voice was a lot softer, more relaxed, and Mike propped the cross against his leg.

"I'll call Fritz and ask, but I don't think they gave preferences," he pointed out as he leaned over the other arm of the couch.

"Maybe the parent didn't, but something like that could be important to the child," Marionette insisted, looking upwards again. "What exactly are you doing?"

"Just grabbing something," Mike excused. The puppet now watched him a bit more intently, suspicion raising once again. Mike wouldn't dare…

Then a familiar box came into view and Marionette was rising again, nearly throwing himself off of the couch. He broke into static and became frantic, anger clear on his face as he broke out in the occasional cry of betrayed words. Unfortunately, however, Mike had been a little quicker than Marionette had, and the puppet soon found that the cross actually was a trick.

Marionette strings really did confine him. Mike had secured them well enough that getting them detached from the cross by tugging wasn't going to happen. Mike had expected the puppet to try and leave. Though he had genuinely not expected the other to react so frantically, with such frustration and agitation, especially not when he had been going without sleep.

"Would you calm down? I'm literally asking for you to sleep; that's basically the only thing you can do with zero consequences!" Even that seemed like he would be less reluctant to do.

It was only then that Mike realized exactly how strong Golden Bonnie had been. When he had gotten ahold of Marionette's strings, Mike had assumed that a hold on the strings had made the male easier to contain. This was entirely inaccurate; Marionette wasn't even very strong, but as he yanked back the cross almost flew out of his hands. The man tightened his grip on it and left the music box sitting there untouched, having not even attempting to wind it yet. "I don't understand why you're making this so difficult! It's sleeping, it doesn't require a temper tantrum!"

Yet Marionette was acting surprisingly frantic. It was as though all rationality had been thrown out the window. Mike hadn't expected this and, suddenly, decided to back down. It wasn't worth all of this and he was at the end of his rope. "Fine! Christ, you don't have to make such a big deal out of this!" Mike released the cross and it slid across the couch as Marionette retracted his strings. Mike set the music box on the side table. "There, happy? Just keep staying awake, but I don't want to even see-," Mike cut off when Marionette suddenly dropped to the floor.

"…Mari?" Mike leaned over the edge of the couch, staring at the animatronic now laying limply on the ground. He was clearly unconscious, or in sleep mode, or whatever could be labelled for going completely dormant without the use of the box. "You see, this was why I was trying to get you to sleep," Mike pointed out, knowing good and well that the puppet couldn't hear him. He moved to his side and nudged him over; he was clearly not responsive at all. After sighing and running his fingers back through his hair, concerned once again, he moved him.

Unconscious, Marionette was much more easy to move, especially considering the fight he had in him earlier. Mike laid him back down on the couch, briefly checking to make sure he hadn't damaged anything in the fall, and then tossed a blanket over him to let him sleep. This would fix it, he told himself. This would fix these nights without sleep and Marionette would be ready for tomorrow's pressure. Yet he still felt a nagging concern overtaking him and decided to stay close by just in case.

* * *

_Marionette stared blankly ahead at a deteriorating wall, unable to move. He could feel the cold hands on him; one on his arm and one on his shoulder. A heavy breathing was on the back of his head and he couldn't move away. His body was completely limp. "_

_Hey," a familiar voice started. "Hey. Hey you. Aren't you that kid?" The voice wasn't like before. It was close, but it was gasping, choking. "Aren't you that kid who always hides under the table? Aren't you him?" A wheeze, a choke, a metallic groan, and the puppet didn't move. He couldn't move._ " _And cries. Always cries. You always like to cry." There was a cold and stiff laugh. "No one else is scared! Why are you? Stop being such a baby!" The hands tightened their grip._

_"_ _You can't_ _**ignore me.** _ _" The voice grew deeper and louder against the back of Marionette's head. "_ _**They all forgot about me, but you can't forget. You can't ignore me.** _ _" He started to try and pull away from the being, leaning forward and trying to drag out of its grasp. He pried further, feeling multiple arms holding him back._

_A hand, cold and limp, suddenly flopped oven his eyes. Suddenly Marionette felt extremely claustrophobic and started to flail back. Panic rang through his chest and distorted chimes drowned out the voice of the thing that held him. He was trapped, he was stuck, and his reward for the struggle was the ability to wake. The hands were still on him…_

* * *

Marionette continued thrash as he desperately tried to get the hands off of him. He could only partially tell that there was a static screech emanating from him and managed to somehow silence himself. His eyes focused and he suddenly saw that the being above him was very familiar. Instead of the boy who haunted his nightmares, it was none other than Mike himself, who was struggling to hold him down in his thrashing. He found his voice quickly, "Mike!" It was a choked gasp and abruptly signaled the end of whatever was happening.

The puppet went limp on the couch, his body trembling after the sudden burst of activity.

The human released him and leaned back a little. "Are you okay?"

The animatronic covered his face and turned over towards the back of the couch. He didn't even want to know what expressions he revealed while that mess was occurring. "This is why I didn't want to sleep. Five minutes of sleep wasn't worth that…" Marionette admitted, trying to cover his own mixed feelings with what could barely be considered a scolding.

"Six hours," Mike clarified. "And what exactly was that? Was that another nightmare?"

Marionette stayed quiet for a few minutes. "…Six hours?" He sounded genuinely surprised; which he was as the nightmare felt to only last a couple of minutes.

"Is this why you're not sleeping? Because if it is, I think I get it," Mike added in. Indeed, what had just happened had been extremely disconcerting. The animatronic had started to make odd noises, weird chiming tones, and he had made an attempt to rouse him.

That was when Marionette lashed out at him. He didn't seem to remember or realize it, but for a few second he had grabbed Mike by the neck. Mike had quickly gotten his hands off of him and tried to hold him in place, fearing he would hurt himself. Thankfully, he woke pretty quickly, but he seemed still disturbed. "What was it about? Was that kid giving you a hard time?" Mike reached out and rested his hand on Marionette's back.

"Oh Mike, you… You have no idea," Marionette murmured back. Then, like a light clicking on, Marionette suddenly had an epiphany. He slid back off of the couch and hovered in the air, regaining his bearings quickly. "Mike, that child continues to haunt my dreams. I thought before that it was me, that I was seeing him because of something inside of me, but I'm afraid that can't be the case any longer. What he said…" Marionette took a moment to remember exactly what it had said to him in his dream. For a few moments he stayed there like that and Mike stood, approaching him and grasping his shoulders.

"I think you need to sit down. Keep going, but sit down; you didn't see what you were doing a couple of minutes ago." Mike coaxed Marionette to sit back down on the couch. "Let's start from the beginning. Who exactly was this kid in the first place?" The security guard couldn't help but coax him further. He was concerned, but there was certainly a sort of curiosity there as well, and that was a part of himself that he had trouble fighting back. Naturally, Marionette went to explain the situation.

"He lives- lived nearby and was older than I was. I didn't know him well, expect the few times that I saw him and he teased me. It wasn't like he was the only one; he never really stood out. This… Moment I keep remembering was the last time I saw him before my accident. I don't even think he was at my birthday party…" Marionette now noticed that he knew virtually nothing about the person haunting him. He straightened and looked to Mike, "Remember that favor you owed me? I believe it's time that I used it."

"Oh boy, sounds fun," Mike dryly responded. It wasn't like he was turning him down or anything.

"I need you to help me figure out where this boy is and what happened to him… I fear I already know that something terrible has happened," Marionette finished with a slight shiver.

"I can try, but that's not going to be easy if you don't even remember his name. Still, Fritz might know something," Mike attempted, trailing off at the end. Fritz was basically his latching on point when he had absolutely no leads in mind. Thankfully, Marionette wasn't finished.

"I do remember where he lived. Someone who lives there might know what happened to him. If you can drive me by, I can point out the exact house," Marionette suggested.

Mike gave a nod, "I think I can pull that off. Not tonight, I have to head to work, but maybe on the way back here after the party tomorrow? I just feel creepy knocking on doors asking questions about kids at Midnight." He stood from the couch and Marionette glanced towards the grandfather clock, but couldn't see it well from this angle.

"…You have to leave soon?"

"Yeah, I have a shift… Are you going to be okay? I can stay. It's not like they'll care, what with how many hours of mine they've cut," Mike sounded more matter-of-fact than bitter about it. If anything, he was truly worried about the puppet, who looked away.

"No, no. I'm fine now… I slept long enough to recover, so I should be fine on my own." Part of Marionette was embarrassed to admit how much he wanted Mike to stay with him, but he knew that he couldn't, that he needed to go to work.

"I won't be gone long. Fritz and Jeremy have the Pizzeria handled, so I'm not going anywhere else," Mike insisted, hoping to comfort him somewhat. As he said, he didn't have to leave right away, so Mike had time to get into his uniform and sit down for another ten minutes. Maybe it was because Marionette wanted to think of anything other than the kid, but his attention turned to Mike's uniform.

"Do you still have the Freddy night guard uniform?" he inquired curiously. The answer didn't exactly surprise him.

"Of course I do," Mike answered with a small smile, almost sly in a way. As though he had smuggled out the uniform from the Pizzeria when, most likely, nobody asked for it back.

"Does it still fit?" Marionette casually asked.

Mike sent him a weird look, "Uh… I'd say so. It's not like I've changed that much in these long couple of years." Maybe he knew where the puppet was going with this.

"Are you going to wear them at the new Pizzeria? The other uniforms can't be done yet, not if nothing else is."

"I wasn't thinking about it, but I don't know. I didn't think you were preferable to the color purple," Mike pointed out.

"I'm not. I'm just curious. Besides, I would know it was you. I'm not blinded by purple," Marionette pointed out. Though he very well could have been; there was suddenly an interest in what it would be like if Mike started working in the old Freddy uniforms. It certainly took his mind off of the child, but at a price that Marionette was still quite uncertain about. The last thing he wanted was to see Mike in purple, right?

Shortly afterwards, Mike headed out for work, and Marionette was left alone. Marionette wasn't exactly scared to be alone. Given that the kid, or whatever it was, was limited to his dreams, the puppet wasn't afraid of it outside of the dreams. Yet he worried on it and felt surprisingly lonely being on his own after such an event. He managed in the beginning with trying to work, but once it became apparent that his mind wouldn't stay on one subject he moved into his bedroom to tend to his own collection of plush toys.

They were quite a comfort; they always had been. Maybe Marionette wasn't exactly a child anymore; age or body wise, but he still found that his plush 'friends' were able to comfort him well. Eventually this ended as he heard the front door shut outside his room. It had been shut a little more harshly than Mike tended to do, so Marionette headed over to the door and peered out. He could tell it was Mike, but all of his movements were extremely odd. He nearly tossed his keys down, opened the fridge, shut it immediately, paced in a circle, and then stopped.

At the back of the couch, Mike began to unbutton his shirt, revealing the white undershirt underneath. He fumbled with the buttons and glared at them as though they offended him. Already Marionette had figured it out; Mike was angry about something. Once the shirt was off, Mike left it on the back of the couch and sat down, yanking off his hat and tossing it on the table. Then he grew silent and stared at the floor for a few moments. Marionette approached in an almost timid manner. He didn't want Mike to think he had been watching his display.

Or reading him, of course. Marionette knew how uncomfortable it felt to be 'read' by someone else. With him looking so frustrated, the puppet didn't want to give him the wrong idea. He arrived at the couch, resting his hands on the back, and looked down at Mike. He needed just a few seconds to figure out how to verbally approach this. Before he had a chance, Mike glanced back and saw the animatronic standing behind him.

He stared for a moment and then gave a small, strained exhale, "Hey."

Marionette responded, "Welcome back."

Mike didn't immediately say what was bothering him. He seemed a little reluctant, like if he started talking that too much would come out. He was clearly frustrated about something and Marionette waited patiently. "You were okay while I was gone?" Mike asked and the puppet nodded. "Good. I was worried about you." He fell quiet again, but this time it was shorter. "Let's hope tomorrow works out, because if it doesn't we don't have anything to fall back on… They fired me. Or 'let me go', as they put it."

There was the explanation and the anger that followed. Though this confused Marionette, "Why did they do that? You do a fine job as a security guard." He had to if he was to survive Freddy's. It seemed insane that an office building that needed minimal security wouldn't keep a qualified worker.

"Their excuse was that they couldn't afford us both, which I know was a lie. They said it was either me or Natalie and Natalie was doing way more overtime than I was… They made sure not to tell me until the end of my shift," he nearly growled the last part.

Marionette knew the severity of the loss of income. He knew it and still felt a random jump of delight at the thought of Mike not leaving every night, working exclusively in the Pizzeria with him. Reality balanced it out; Mike and he couldn't support the household without funds, so it was important to get the Pizzeria on its feet quickly, or Mike would have to find another job. Though Mike was more worried about finding a second job period with how long he had to search for the one he lost.

Marionette leaned over the back of the couch and rested his hands on his shoulders, almost mimicking Mike's actions earlier. "Tomorrow's going to be perfect and everything's going to fall into place. This is just a minor setback, trust me." His smile was honest and hearable in his voice, "All they did was spare you from having to quit once the Pizzeria is fully up and running."

Mike gave a small sigh and responded, "Yeah… Wish I had the chance to quit before they threw me out on the curb." Marionette chimed in amusement at Mike's lament.

He was still upset, it was obvious, and it wasn't as though the money issue would just vanish. The puppet knew that tomorrow relied on both Foxy and his performance; this party had to work, the kids had to be happy, and the business had to succeed.

"They will be regretting their decision soon enough. Until then…" He looked to the clock. It was already late and they would have to start preparing early tomorrow. He would have to be alert and he hated it. He hated what he was about to agree to.

"…Wind my box?"


	26. Chapter 26

To say that Marionette was excited was a direct understatement. Even with another agonizing night's sleep, he was awake and alert in the morning, eagerly awaiting what was coming in the near future. After the night beforehand, Marionette expected to feel more anxious and worried, but instead he found that his eagerness was a lot more positive. He couldn't wait to be working back in the prize corner, and for an actual birthday party as well. He was absolutely ecstatic about the entire ordeal and patiently waited to leave, already having finished the birthday cake.

Mike called down the hall from the bedroom as he stepped out from it, "I'm dressed, so if you're ready then we can get going."

The puppet perked and spun around, "Alright, let's-!" His voice cut off abruptly. Suddenly he was staring at a lot more purple than he expected to be seeing. Mike had this confident look on his face, as though he was expecting some sort of reaction. Of course he was going to get one; Mike went ahead with wearing his old security guard uniform from Freddy's. Somehow Marionette was still surprised.

"What do you think?" Mike asked. When he didn't get a response, he got a playful smirk. "Remember, you're the one who suggested it."

Marionette regained his ability to speak, "I know, it just… Caught me off guard."

Mike's amusement only lingered, "I'm hoping literally. That's the whole point." He then headed into the other bedroom to get the box. The animatronic continued to watch him. Oddly, he felt a little twitchy, felt a little warm, but recognized it being the color itself affecting him. Or that it was the anticipation getting to him.

The drive to Freddy's was uneventful; Marionette stayed in the back and Mike didn't yet ask questions about the house they were going to find. Once at the restaurant, there was only a short time to set up. Thankfully, the work they had done before showed, and the Prize Corner looked mostly complete with decorations, shelves, and the box. The shelves had been lined with the repaired Foxy plushies to give the illusion of being stocked; however, Fritz was still unable to get ahold of the old supplier of party supplies.

One of the most important additions that Mike had work on was the track on the roof of the Prize Corner. The track was merely a ruse of sorts. Marionette would attach his strings, and cross, to the track and then move around the Pizzeria as though he was on a set course. This allowed Marionette to leave the Prize Corner, though not very far yet, and disguised the fact that he could move on his own. Mike's first job was to string the cross and hang it on the track. Unfortunately, halfway through the action and he was interrupted by Jeremy.

"I-I think they're here. A couple of SUVs stopped outside and kids are pouring out," Jeremy alerted. Mike quietly swore and scrambled to set it on the track.

Marionette seemed a little more amused about the whole thing, "Oh, are you sure? Just because there's twenty children outside doesn't necessarily mean they're for the birthday party." He then tried to assist Mike in stringing everything together.

Seeing that they were busy, Jeremy straightened himself with an inhale, "I'll just… Let them in. Don't worry." He headed out of the Prize Corner and started to head towards the front door, glancing over at the stage as he went. Foxy was peering out from behind the curtain, watching him go. "This is it, Foxy. The show's about to start!" he called over encouragingly, his voice wavering. He could tell why he was so anxious, but as he opened the front doors and saw at least a dozen children he had a suspicion why. Though he knew this time was different. "Come on in, Guys! Captain Foxy is waiting! And you don't want to leave him waiting too long, or he gets out his plank."

The kids bought into the act immediately and responded with eagerness as they were guided inside. A couple of chauffer parents entered as well, and Jeremy entered back into the front room. Right as he did, Foxy let himself out onto stage and began to immediately act his role.  _"_

 _Yar, welcome to my ship! The adventure's gonna be long and filled with danger_ -." The kids continued to eat up Foxy's promise of adventure and Jeremy felt a sort of relief at seeing them crowd the stage and knowing that Foxy wouldn't hurt them...

* * *

" _Jeremy."_

_Jeremy was taken out of his thoughts by a voice outside the security office's door. He looked upwards to see his boss standing there and looking a bit distressed. This was, after all, the last party before their 'renovation'. Jeremy still didn't know what happened, but he knew that he felt a lot more comfortable watching during the day than at night. That was, until now. "The Mangle's out of Kid's Cove and is scaring people. Get that this back in its room, alright? We already got enough problems as it is." Then he turned and left._

_Jeremy wasn't as frightened of Mangle as he was of the others. It had never gotten into his office, unlike the others, and unlike the Puppet its appearance was less unnerving. Mangle was always a sympathetic character in the night guard's, or day guard now, eyes. Why kids destroyed it was unclear, how was even more unclear, but Foxy couldn't survive being kept together very long. Jeremy stood and headed out, passing through the birthday party that was occurring. Something felt off in the room and he tried counting the children._

_Once he lost count he gave up and continued into the next room. There was Mangle, dragging itself along the floor. A small group of kids stood nearby and stared, looking a bit frightened, and one adult parent watched in concern._

_"Alright, it's time for Foxy to head back to bed," Jeremy spoke in a lighthearted tone to cover his uneasiness. He then started to approach the mangled remains. "Foxy, go back to Kid's Cove," he tried to command, hoping that the animatronic would do as he said. It lethargically sat there, so Jeremy moved closer._ _He brought out his flashlight and flickered it at Mangle's eyes. "_

_Sometimes this works. They get a little confused, so we snap them out of it. Like when a doctor shines a light in your eyes." The kids were relaxing; that was good. Mangle didn't move; that was bad. "Okay, uh… I guess I have to try to move it myself… Stand back, kids." He had said those last three words without any knowledge of what was about to happen. He had no idea what was about to come the second that he came to a crouch in front of Mangle. He had no idea that its lethargy was an act._

_Suddenly Mangle sprung forwards and Jeremy was knocked onto his back. Before he could attempt to do anything, it clamped its teeth down on his arm and shoulder. He could feel the sharp points tearing into his back and chest as he struggled to pry it off. He wasn't even screaming; he couldn't even scream. The kids were, though, and he could hear them run out as he thrashed with Mangle, trying to kick it off. He felt his arm pop out of place as Mangle tore at it, trying desperately to take his arm with it. Its second head did nothing but watch._

_Then footsteps returned once more. Fredrick and a technician struggled to get Mangle off. When it wouldn't release its grip, the technician gave it a small jolt with his taser, and it finally released. Once it was back away from Jeremy it was tased again. Jeremy felt the pain lowly start to intensify; the adrenaline still there but no longer masking the pain. S_

_Suddenly a man was above him, trying to assist him. Jeremy recognized his voice from the night calls. "This, uh, this isn't good. We're going to have to get you to the hospital, can you walk?"_ _Jeremy mumbled out some sort of response. "Alright, just… Fredrick, I need help. I can't move him alone."_

_Fredrick was back over to Jeremy, swearing to himself. "Just… Let's just move him to the back of the Freddy van. One of us can drive him." He turned his head towards the door. "Fritz, calm down the kids, try to explain this off." He then looked back towards the other technician, "Dave, watch that thing and make sure it doesn't go biting anyone else." Then he moved to start lifting Jeremy._

_At some point Jeremy noticed all the blood on himself and started to feel even more lightheaded. He started to dip out of consciousness. "_

_Hey, come on, stay with us," Phone Guy coaxed. "He's really out of it. We need to-."_

_Then his voice was gone and the world went black. Jeremy briefly woke in the back of the van, but only returned fully to consciousness once at the hospital. The Phone Guy stayed with him. Jeremy suspected that it was less out of concern and more that he was afraid to return to the Pizzeria and see what the condition was._

* * *

Jeremy only realized he was gritting his teeth when he entered into the kitchen.

Fritz was checking the pizza, murmuring out a quick, "We really need to get someone in here that can cook." He then noticed something and straightened abruptly, "Is Foxy alone with the kids?"

Jeremy shook his head, "Mike stepped out. I just came to check on the pizza."

Fritz checked it again and grumbled. "We've got a few more minutes… I think. I'm starting to see why Fredrick barely made any fresh pizzas. At least the cake's done." He noticed how quiet Jeremy was. "…Something on your mind?"

The younger man gave a dry chuckle, "It's, uh… It's nothing. I was just remembering some things..." He shuffled around a bit. "Hey, do you remember the day I got- I was bit? That was pretty rough." He rubbed his shoulder and Fritz exhaled sympathetically.

"It was, for you. How are you holding up?" It had been years, but Fritz wasn't sure whether or not an injury like that would give lingering issues.

Jeremy became defensive, "I'm fine, I was just thinking about it. I guess with the kids and the party… But I lived, right? That's better than some. I got out pretty unscathed."

"Still, nobody thought Mangle was going to do it. I knew something was going on with the animatronics, but I didn't actually think-…" Fritz trailed off and Jeremy peeked in the oven. "I think that's done. Here, I'll take it out." Now Fritz was the one who was standing there awkwardly. Jeremy got the pizza out with an oven mitt and cut it, moving it to a cool tray.

"I… Guess I'll take the pizza out. The plates are already out there." Fritz agreed and stiffly followed out into the dining room.

* * *

_Fritz flicked on the light switch and stepped into the parts and service room, then promptly stepped back in alarm. A cold feeling settled on his shoulders as he stared at the sight waiting for him. Slouched on the other side of the room was a suit that he himself moved in a few days before. It was still relatively unfinished, but even now he could see gaps in between the arms, the legs, and the torso that revealed something underneath. Then he noticed some blood coming through the facial holes. He already knew what had happened._

_Taking a step closer, Fritz shined the light over the mascot's face. He knew who it had to be and felt the coldness spread to his throat. He knew who was working the night shift tonight; he knew he wasn't even supposed to be on the night shift much longer. Then he noticed some sort of faint sound that came from the direction of the body. He moved in closer and crouched down, listening against the suit. There was a dull wheezing coming from inside the suit._

_"_ _He's alive…" Fritz gasped out. He turned his head towards the door, knowing Fredrick was nearby._ " _Boss! You need to get over here! He's alive!" He knew Fredrick wouldn't know what he's talking about until he got there. Then Fredrick arrived at the door quickly and stared at the suit in shock. Fritz, meanwhile, made a dash towards the hall._

_Fredrick caught his arm, "Whoa, whoa. Wait." The technician looked back to him in alarm. "_

_I need to call an ambulance. Isn't that the plan?" He was shocked that he was staying so calm, but he almost lost that calmness when Fredrick continued._

" _New plan…" he began slowly. "You try to get that off of him first. We're not going to be able to move him with that on and you're the best at working with the animatronics."_

_The mere suggestion was unbelievable to Fritz. "_ _Boss, I can't- He could bleed out if I try to get him out of that! I don't think-!"_

_Fredrick turned on him; calm, but firm. "And you think a bunch of paramedics with no idea on how to get him out are going to do better? If you can't get him out, then they can't get them out." Fritz had a feeling that he didn't have a choice._

_Fredrick wasn't sounding like he was going to change his mind and didn't seem like he was going to let the technician call anyone just yet. He sort of got it; after everything, Freddy's couldn't handle another accident with its reputation, and Fredrick's focus was probably on that. Even though one of his most loyal employees was trapped before him bleeding, Fredrick was focused on the business. He had worked here longer than Fritz had and, frankly, it startled the technician that their boss was so apathetic about the situation._

"… _I'll try…" As uneasily as he could, he crouched in front of the trapped body and tried to start working the suit off. Fredrick just watched him._

* * *

Even today that memory unnerved Fritz. He had never told anyone about it, and didn't even know why he was thinking about it, but it still hung on his shoulders. He had lived, but Fritz still believed that Fredrick was reckless, and that bothered him more than he could've ever anticipated. He, like Jeremy, pushed it into the back of his mind and entered the dining room. The children had now started to cluster around a very flustered Jeremy who was simply trying to serve them. It was certainly an amusing scene.

Finally, Fritz went over to assist. Now both were swarmed with children while Mike watched from by the Prize Corner. He had receded into 'Security Guard' mindset and was currently keeping an eye out for any dangers. He knew how important it was that the kids stayed safe; not that he didn't trust Foxy or Marionette. It was just a precaution to make sure everyone, including the animatronics, would be kept safe. With the pizza being served, Foxy briefly disappeared into his curtain to grab a prop, and the kids didn't notice. He wasn't gone long.

* * *

_Foxy's head poked out of the curtain. "I see you, Foxy. Don't even think about it," Mike muttered as he stared at the screen. He reached off to the side and grabbed his soda, not taking his eyes off of the screen._

_It was only Tuesday and yet Foxy was already starting to be difficult. Though it was already four o'clock, so it wasn't too out of the realm of possibility. Mike checked the power and felt slight exasperation at how low it had gotten. He knew he could waste any extra power and turned off the screen, making a mental note to check it in the near future for Foxy._

_Kicking off of the office desk, he rolled his chair to the left door and checked the lights. Nothing; Bonnie and Chica were still off somewhere else, and this gave him plenty of time to relax for the moment. It felt good being back. After the last time Fredrick 'fired' him, he genuinely thought that the job would be over. Instead here he was again. It wasn't like anyone else was so willing to come back, but Mike had found out quickly that it was pretty difficult to stay away from Freddy's. He just couldn't resist coming back to the night shift._

_It wasn't the money. In fact, Freddy's barely paid enough for him to get by, and that was only with a second job assisting it. It was just the thrill of it. The delight of going somewhere where he would fight like his life depended on it, which it did. The joy of not having to go home to a sub-standard house more than he needed to. When outside this restaurant, he was just the average guy in a dead end job. Inside the restaurant, he had accomplished an enormous feat and was one of the only ones who survived._

_Mike checked Foxy again and noticed that he hadn't moved any further. With a hum, he quickly flipped through the other cameras. Chica seemed to be in the kitchen, Bonnie was back in the parts and service room, and Freddy had yet to leave his stage. With an exhale, Mike flipped through the rest of the cameras. He would've just turned off the monitor there, but something stopped him from doing so. In one of the hallways there was clearly some sort of change. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was a poster on the wall that was different._

_It appeared to be Freddy, but not exactly. With more yellow fabric and empty eyes, it looked more to be a different model of Freddy. "_

_Has that always been here?" he mentally questioned. "…Couldn't have been. Maybe Fredrick put it up?... Nah. The place is scary enough without the posters." He wasn't sure what the scenario was and simply lowered the monitor. It was at that moment that his eyes locked onto the same form as the poster. For an agonizing moment, Mike was staring at a slumped animatronic that looked remarkably like Freddy._

_It was a knee jerk reaction, but Mike suddenly dipped behind the monitor, as though hiding from the bear. He expected it to lash out, to grab for him, but there was no response. He slowly raised again and stared across the office. The thing, whatever it was, had vanished without a trace. He shivered and checked the monitor. The poster had returned to normal and the yellow bear was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that had changed was that Foxy had moved further out of his curtain. The looming animatronic had vanished, but Mike still felt unsafe._

_He wondered if Phone Guy had felt this way before whatever became of him. The thought was quickly shrugged off as Mike buckled down to keep watch of the monitor. He couldn't be too careful…_

* * *

Blue eyes watched as the children were quickly ushered towards the Prize Corner. Anything to distract them long enough for the pizza to be served, he supposed, and he kept watch in the Prize Corner. The kids had approached the present box before the lid popped open, revealing the puppet himself. He looked so calm and collected, so poised and ready, and maybe this was why, even though the kids jumped a little, they didn't seem afraid. Maybe they felt the joy and confidence coming off of the slender animatronic.

Though underneath this front, Marionette was a little less collected than he seemed. He was able to work, to smile, and eagerly started to hand out Foxy plush toys to the eager children. Yet there was always concern; mostly the fear that someone would get spooked and there would be an event. He couldn't imagine what he would do if any of them started to cry. Thankfully, they really weren't worried about him, and he continued to pass out Foxy plushies. He trembled in delight at every motion, feeling like he was truly back at work.

Jeremy had left, but Mike was still watching from the doorway. This was probably better; Marionette had always felt uncomfortable performing for children while being watched. Though Mike had seen him in a multitude of embarrassing positions as it was, so he was much less bothered. It wasn't as though Mike could do anything more than fuss with his music anyway. Meanwhile, Marionette did what he was meant to do; entertain children. He chimed, he spun, and he silently performed for them.

Mike eventually called the kids out to the dining room once the pizza was ready and most of them had plush toys. The children headed out, save a few remaining children who needed their toys. The birthday girl received hers with an eager smile; missing front tooth and all. He took a step beyond and affectionately tussled her hair, then fixed her party hat and sent her off. It was watching her run out that led him to noticing the child standing meekly by the doorway. Normally he would beckon the girl, coax her over, something along those lines.

Yet instead Marionette struggled to keep himself composed, because the second he saw the girl he recognized her.

Out of all the kids in town, the one girl who spotted him from her bed just happened to be at this party, and from her hesitance she obviously still remembered him. The puppet didn't know what to do at first. He stiffly handed out a few more dolls before he was alone with the girl. There were a few dolls left, she didn't have one, so it was obvious that he had to give her one. He took one from the set and fiddled with it, thinking over his options.

Then he held it out in an offering motion. The girl stared at him, then the doll, then him once again. There was clear hesitance and Marionette leaned a little further over the box. The girl now moved in just a little bit, tentatively reaching out and taking ahold of the plush. Once she had ahold, Marionette released the toy and watched as she clutched it to herself. She looked so uncertain, so torn, and he lowered himself down a bit more. Now leaning on the front of the box and no longer towering over her, the girl seemed to ease just a little bit.

"Thank you," she spoke out quietly. She clearly was still cautious around the animatronic and backed towards the door, keeping her eyes on him. Marionette continued to smile as she exited towards the door. He gave her a wave as she reached the door, attempting to be friendly. The girl gave a small, "Bye," before vanishing once again.

Marionette almost collapsed once she was out of view. That went better than expected; no tears, no screaming, and no questions. Of course the girl could possibly tell her parents, but he wasn't worried.

It was okay. It had all been okay. He had made a good first impression and held everything together. Foxy could do the rest; all Marionette had to do now was stay alert in case any children returned. Confidence started to return; by time they were fully opened he would have everything he needed and would be ready. As for the girl… He had dealt with worse.

* * *

" _They were scared of me," Marionette quietly admitted as he closed his box lid above him. It felt so strange to speak without moving his mouth. Then again, everything was strange in this body. He huddled in his box and stared blankly into the dark. "I didn't think… They would run from me," he was ashamed to even say it. The answering voice was more of an echo in his head than coming from outside the box. He understood why; it probably was not safe for Goldie to come into the Prize Corner. Some of the employees were possibly still sitting in the building somewhere._

" _You know how kids are. Don't take it personally," Goldie insisted. "You're new, you're unfamiliar to them, so they're going to be afraid." Marionette briefly raised his head. "…It didn't really help that you jumped out at them, but still." The puppet dropped his head again, covering his porcelain face with his desperate hands. This wasn't how he expected it to go. This wasn't how he wanted it to go. "You're not crying, are you?" Marionette didn't respond with any audible noise. "You know I hate it when you cry…" Goldie murmured, a bit more sadly._

" _I'm not crying," Marionette insisted. "I don't think I can cry anymore." Indeed, there were tear-like stripes on his face, but he had yet to cry since the incident. Unless he didn't remember it, which he truly doubted._

_"_ _It's for the best. You don't need to cry anymore," Goldie insisted. The puppet agreed, and not just because he usually agreed with whatever he said. Goldie had always just managed to say what needed to be said. "Give them time. They'll get used to you. If they don't, they won't be able to exchange their tickets, right?"_

" _Right," Marionette agreed. He managed to honestly smile again and relaxed against the wall of his box. It wasn't a strong smile, but there was a little more hope._

_Goldie continued, "Just rest tonight. You've had a long day."_

_The puppet didn't argue and instead turned his body until he managed a proper fetal position. "Will you stay with me tonight, Goldie? Just one night?" There was a short while of silence and he thought this meant a positive was coming._

_"_ _…You know I can't. I need to be out there tonight, but I won't be far."_

_It wasn't much of a comfort at all._

* * *

At least, Marionette supposed, he could look forward to something different than a night alone in a box. Or a night of waiting for the music box to unwind. Maybe it was still a night shared with a security guard, but it had much better implications than past ones. Except for the nightmares that were most likely still awaiting him, but he had almost become familiar with them. The thought of not going home to an empty house was enough to make him happy, and Mike helped. It felt good to be able to do something for someone again.

And he would do anything for Mike. He already knew this well.


	27. Chapter 27

"I do hope she comes back. I would really like it if I could get her comfortable with me. The other kids as well, since they weren't nearly as hesitant. All in all, I believe the party did turn out well. There was the cake incident, sure, but I'm pretty sure animatronics were built to resist stains. I can assure you that Foxy has been stained with things much worse than chocolate. But that aside, I feel much better about this. Consider that we can do this much and we're not even ready to open! Just think- Oh, that's the house."

Mike glanced over at the pointed out house. It looked relatively standard with nothing that really stuck out. "You're positive?" he inquired as he studied the uninteresting abode.

"This is it. I remember him being here," Marionette reassured from his spot in the backseat. Now that they had come to a stop, he started to hide under the blanket kept back there. Mike glanced back at him before pulling into the driveway. This was probably going to look weird, Mike knew this, but he stepped out and approached the front door.

He knocked quickly and shortly afterwards got an answer by a middle aged man. "Hey, this might sound a little strange, but I'm investigating a disappearance that happened in this area back about five years ago. There was a boy living here at the time and I was wondering if I could ask him about the kid. You know how it is; kids tend to know each other."

The man looked disturbed and perhaps because of this was honest. "Actually we just moved in a few months ago. We didn't… Know there were disappearances around here. Did they find anything?"

"Unfortunately, no. There were a few leads, but nothing came up. That's why I'm looking in on it," Mike explained. He didn't want to make the man frantic without reason, especially now that he knew he wasn't in direct contact with the boy. "What about the people who sold you the house?"

The man shrugged it off, "It was a realty company. I knew they were keeping something quiet; the price was too good." Mike was almost immediately back at square one, but thankfully the man added in. "Mrs. Mills might know. She's been living here longer."

He pointed out the house next to his and soon Mike was trekking across the lawn to ask the second lead. After knocking on the door, and elderly woman with a walker fumbled out. "Afternoon, Ma'am. I was wondering if you knew about the boy who lived next door. I wanted to ask him some questions about some possible disappearances in the area." Naturally, Mike was bluffing. He was going with the background to Freddy's, the supposedly 'missing' children, to ask about this child who lived next door without seeming strange.

So it did genuinely surprise Mike when the woman answered as she did. "I think you're a little confused, son. The boy who lived there was the one who went missing," Mrs. Mills explained through a heavy southern accent.

Mike blinked at the new information, "Huh, I guess my source was wrong… You knew him?" His source, naturally, being a bad coincidence. The talkative old woman then went into what she knew. This partially involved the boy, somewhat involved a few other suspicious events, then random anecdotes that had nothing to do with the scenario.

Mike was there long enough that Marionette had started to become concerned. It wasn't that he couldn't wait, he was built to wait, but Mike was gone for much longer than intended. By time he got back in the car, he was looking uncomfortable and unbuttoning his security jacket. "I'm definitely regretting wearing this now," he quipped as he tossed it into the back seat. Standing in the sun with two layers hadn't been comfortable, but it wasn't as though he could walk away while the woman was talking.

He started the car and began to drive, starting to explain. "That kid you were talking about went missing a while back. There was this old lady who knew about it; apparently he just vanished from the neighborhood. No strange cars, no suspicious people wandering around, he was just gone… And he's not the only one." Marionette shifted in the backseat. "And I couldn't tell you if it was the kids who went missing at the Pizzeria. It would make sense, but she didn't mention it, so there's a chance that these are other missing kids."

Marionette remained silent in the back. "The boy you were talking about was the most recent to disappear, but that was still a few years back. I don't know why you'd start having nightmares now," Mike added in. He knew the weight of the situation; he had always suspected that there were more missing children out there somewhere. The question now was what happened afterwards. Normally, Mike wouldn't hold much thought into dreams as the could mean anything, but considering that they were the puppet's he put more weight in them.

"What do you think?" Mike asked into the backseat. Marionette remained quiet, a stark contrast to earlier, and it wasn't until he pulled into their driveway that the question was answered.

The puppet slid upwards to behind the driver's seat, "I think… That if he is there in my dreams, and I know he is, then his soul cannot have moved on… He has to be somewhere." With that thought, he disappeared and Mike stepped out to enter the house. He stepped through the doorway and right back into the conversation, as Marionette was now standing behind the couch.

"Is there a chance that he could be in an animatronic in another Pizzeria somewhere? There could've been more than one Pizzeria; he could be sitting out in another Freddy's. Technically, he could currently  _be_ Freddy," Mike suggested.

Marionette shook his head, "I don't know… I think I would be able to see him as Freddy."

Mike raised a brow, "And what did you see him as?"

The animatronic turned a bit, giving a halfhearted wave in a dismissive manner. "I just keep seeing him as the child I used to know… But much more cold… And with possibly more than two hands."

"And we're actually trying to find this kid," Mike flatly remarked. He tried to get his thoughts together and eventually came with a conclusion, "…But it's more likely that it would be around here, right? It's too coincidental that both the Diner and the Pizzeria are in driving distance of the kid. It would make too much sense that it was at one of those places."

Marionette interjected, "Unless he was taken somewhere else. Reasonably, he could've been taken anywhere in Utah…" Suddenly the puppet seemed to suddenly disagree with himself, "Although, the Purple Man never went far."

"Let's start with the immediate area. Chipper's is out, the Diner and the Pizzeria are out, and all we know was that he was most likely taken by Purple Man. Or we can be honest with ourselves and just acknowledge that, yes, this is undeniably another Purple Man stunt." He scowled in disgust at the thought of the man. It seemed like the more he learned about him, the more he found out that he got away with. It angered Mike to no end, but there was nothing he could do about it except try to discover the truth.

"Maybe my father has a list of locations in the area. He owned most of it, so it is only reasonable that he would have the information. He always seemed to know more than he let on…" Marionette pointed out and turned towards the hallway.

Mike gave a nod and called after him, "Just in case that doesn't work, maybe next time you should just ask the kid where he is." He knew it was a touchy subject to joke about, but the animatronic returned with a slightly amused chime.

Once he was off checking the files, Mike turned to his fall back and called Fritz. "S-Fritz? Look, I need to know if there's any animatronics that you know about and I don't," Mike firmly stated. "It's a long story, but it's pretty important." Fritz was immediately outright with what he knew, but that didn't mean that he had too much to say.

"If you mean other characters and not other copies of the Fazbear Gang, there were a few of them. All of them were discontinued; Walnut the Squirrel, Crickey the Croc, they were all dropped after they didn't catch on."

"And the animatronics themselves?" Mike inquired.

"Sent back to the robotics facility, usually to be taken apart and reused. Their parts are expensive so it just makes sense… It happened to the toy line, I mean. They were all shipped somewhere, taken apart, and then some of the pieces managed to make it back to the warehouse," Fritz explained.

Mike nodded over the phone, then gave an actual answer as well. "Just checking. I'm feeling a little paranoid today."

Fritz gave a soft chuckle, "Welcome to my world. It gets better after a couple of drinks."

"How's… How are you holding up?" Mike inquired. He hadn't asked Fritz earlier; it didn't seem like an appropriate time to do so. Though he did wish he was able to do so in person.

Thankfully, Fritz sounded a bit better. "I'm alright. It's just, you know, one day at a time... These things happen," he excused. "Really, I'm doing fine. Once I'm done over here at Foxy's I'm going out, so that's a step." This was good to hear and Mike agreed.

"Glad to hear. If you need anyone to talk to, I'm always here." The call soon ended. Mike moved on to the next lead.

"Hey Jere," he began as casually as he could. "Did you ever see or know about any animatronics outside of the Fazbear gang? And Balloon Boy and the toys, I mean." Mike wasn't as confident in Jeremy as he had been in Fritz. It wasn't that he thought Jeremy was lesser in any way, but he knew Fritz had worked with Fredrick much longer than Jeremy had.

"I don't think so. Most of the models I saw were just the same characters. Unless you, uh, don't mean characters…" Mike was about to give up. "Or, wait, you mean the rentals?"

Mike perked immediately with interest, "Rentals?"

Jeremy eagerly explained, "Yeah, they actually used to rent out animatronics for birthday parties. Not here- Well, they were here- They would be rented out to the Pizzeria. I think they may have been rented out by the company that worked on some of the animatronics, but I'm not really sure."

This let on an entirely new lead. "Do you know about the robotics factory?"

Jeremy thought for a moment, "Uh… I think it was ACI? I can ask Fritz."

Mike spoke back, "Don't worry, I'll call him. I'll call you back."

He ended the call and went to call Fritz back. The technician answered, "I was wondering when you'd call." Before Mike could say anything more than a greeting, Fritz interrupted, "It's ARI, not ACI, and they aren't in business anymore."

The security guard silently listened before replying, "So did you spontaneously become psychic or does Jeremy have fingers of lightning?" Naturally, there came a simpler explanation, as he was expecting.

"You do realize that Jeremy's about five foot away from me, right?"

"I do now," Mike admitted, feeling just a little foolish. "I guess it's your turn then. What can you tell me about this company?"

Even though Fritz was previously forthcoming, Mike noticed how hesitant he became. "Well, not much to say… The rental animatronics were part of a failed Pizzeria. When they had trouble opening, the company scrapped the idea and started to rent out the animatronics. Fredrick didn't go through with it much, mostly because of the cost, and ARI, again, went out of business. I'm guessing after Freddy's, their investors backed out."

This almost sounded like it would make sense. However, Mike found suspicion sinking in. After what happened before, Mike couldn't help but think that Fritz would keep something from him. It would be so easy for the man to again leave out what he actually knew. For the moment Mike let it slide. "Any reason why it failed?"

Fritz quickly responded, "I think there was a problem at the building." There was no way that Mike believed this, but he didn't know whether it was him lying or if someone else had. "Are you going to let me in on what's up with all of these questions?" If Fritz was hiding something, then Mike didn't feel much of an issue to hide something back.

"I was thinking about more animatronics we would be able to get ahold of. Don't worry about it," he dismissed and was apparently believable. The second he got of the call with Fritz, however, he started heading into the master bedroom. He quickly spotted Marionette kneeling in the closet, going through the bottom drawer of the file cabinet.

"Do you know about rental animatronics?" Mike inquired in a slightly suspicious manner.

"I do," Marionette replied. "Would you believe that out of all these countless files on animatronics, I absolutely don't have one?" He quickly flicked through them as the human approached.

"I sort of assumed you had it or something," Mike pointed out as he tried to slide into the closet behind the puppet, leaning over his knelt form. "We've got to either get an office or move this thing into the hallway; this just isn't going to work."

Marionette tilted his head back to look upwards at Mike, amusement on his face as his fabric brushed against Mike's leg. "I never saw the rental animatronics. I just always assumed they were slightly different colored Freddys."

The human furrowed his brows and looked down, briefly letting them both stare at each other. "…I don't know what's worse; the fact that you have no clue about these animatronics or the fact that I pretty much expect to find recolored Freddys."

Marionette chimed in amusement, "My father was a genius, but he had his lazy moments."

"I don't think I could handle multiple Freddys. With the darkness and the bathroom thing, I just don't think I'd even begin to handle that," Mike pointed out as he started to open the upper drawer. He slowed as his eyes looked to Marionette instead, noticing that he suddenly went very quiet and was now more concerned with fiddling with his hands than looking. He reached down and patted his head as it was the easiest thing to reach. "I didn't say you could stop," he remarked playfully, but his tone also had a quieter tone of questioning in it.

Marionette wasn't surprised by his touch, but the feeling of his mask being touched nearly caused him to tremble. "I feel, somehow, like this is patronizing," Marionette joked back, but his tone had a little slither of reassurance in it.

"I didn't call you 'Kiddo' did I?" Mike retorted with a playful smirk. "Or 'my little Sock Monkey', or something."

Marionette shivered again, now leaning back against Mike's leg further. "You're definitely patronizing me now, and I'm certainly not little," he quipped as he watched the security guard now sort through the cabinet.

It didn't take long to find something of interest. Mike had expected that Fredrick would have information collected considering that he was working with this company. Sure enough, there was a print out with the actual name of the company, Afton Robotics Incorporated, along with two phone numbers and an address. There wasn't too much actual information, like specific names, notes, or animatronics listed on the paper, but the contact information was definitely enough. He brought out his cell again, moving back to lean against the wall of the closet.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Fritz had been correct in suggesting that the place had closed. Both of the phone numbers led nowhere, suggesting that the place was in fact no longer open. Yet as Mike checked the address he found his curiosity was still piqued. It wasn't a far drive at all and as he considered it, it wouldn't be too difficult to slip inside and see what he could find. Sure, it was probably trespassing, but he had a feeling that anyone connected with Freddy's would probably prefer not to get the authorities involved.

"I guess the only possibility is for me to drive over to ARI and see if anything's still going on there. You're going to have to come with me, or I'm not going to know whether or not any animatronics in there are the ones we're looking for," Mike explained and Marionette paused, then agreed.

"When do we leave?" he questioned, looking back at the man who slid past him.

"As soon as I can get a few things together. I'm not going into this place unprepared." Indeed, Mike was tired of getting into situations without what he needed. "Give me a couple of minutes and we'll head over there." He started to the door, but stopped when he was presented by a second question.

"Are you going to invite Fritz and Jeremy?" Marionette inquired relatively innocently. He had no idea about the constant uneasiness that Mike was battling with when it came to the technician. He had only asked because he was legitimately curious.

"…Nah, it's just going to be us." A part of Marionette sort of liked that it would be the two of them. He liked it enough that he didn't notice Mike's hesitance.

Shortly later, the two were in the car and driving to the address listed on the paper. The building itself didn't exclusively stand out, but did look relatively abandoned. Everything was put together fine, but the parking lot was completely empty and all of the lights in the building were shut off. By now the sun had almost set and sent shadows over the parking lot. Mike glanced around before looking into the backseat, "I think it's safe for you to come out. I'll try keeping an eye out." Marionette slipped out behind Mike who then retrieved the things he brought.

"Flashlight, crowbar, and this…" Mike showed off what looked to be a taser. "I'm glad I kept ahold of one of these. If anything down there starts getting too grabby, a zap should put them out of commission." He then looked to the puppet, paused, and added, "Unless it's you."

Marionette chimed and retorted, "Mike, I think I can control myself. This is business; I only get clingy at home." He then turned and approached the front door. "Oh, this will be all too easy. Just give me a moment…" He rested his hand on the door, focused, and unlocked it from the outside.

Soon they were inside the building and searching through what they could find in the immediate area. Even though the electricity seemed to be on, Mike decided to simply rely on the flashlight. It didn't take long before

Marionette found something, "Mike, over here." As he had briefly slipped off on his own, Mike actually had to find him. Thankfully he was only in a nearby hallway, looking at writing mounted on the wall. "The rental animatronics are down a few floors. I think we should try to find the stairs."

"There's an elevator back over that way," Mike pointed out and started to backtrack. It wasn't long until he found the elevator again. It still functioned properly and seemed supplied with adequate electricity, so Mike didn't bother with finding a staircase and simply stepped in. Marionette entered inside as well, silently looking around the inside of the elevator.

"I think the stairs would be wiser. If there is someone here, they will hear the elevator lowering," the puppet pointed out, clearly uneasy. Though the elevator was the least of his problems. Since he had entered the building he had felt a growing sensation overtake him; a depressing, smothering sort of feeling. It didn't help that the elevator itself made him feel claustrophobic. "The stairs can't be that far… Mike?"

Mike was crouched down in the back of the elevator, staring at something on the ground. Marionette floated closer and could see that it was some sort of broken screen laying there. It was practically shattered; as though thrown instead of dropped.

"Doesn't look like it was used to monitor cameras," Mike remarked as he lifted it and turned it over. "…Let's just pretend that this isn't a sign of worse to come." He dropped the screen again and stood, looking to his companion. "I'd say you don't have to come, but I'm pretty much screwed if you don't."

The animatronic made a huffing noise and waved his hand, "No, I'm coming. I just… The elevator's fine. We would know if someone's here." Marionette was quick to cover his doubt and watched Mike punch in the numbers. He straightened himself and stood his ground; he had handled worse.

He wasn't afraid to confront other beings like himself and wasn't honestly worried about humans, so technically there was nothing to worry about. Marionette shrugged off the sensation and blamed it on the prevalent nightmares. Mike didn't seem afraid, after all. If anything, Mike just seemed a little cautious. So the puppet wanted to follow suit with him. The elevator doors closed and they started to descend into the dark. Neither of them had any idea what was coming…

"…What is that?" Mike asked, his voice laced with distaste. Marionette only noticed the suddenly starting elevator music, but looked to the windows in concern in case he was missing something. He guessed it was the new audio introduced to the tight space.

"It's music," he remarked.

Mike looked around at the roof of the elevator, "I assumed it was music, Mari… It's barely music, but it's… Bongos?" He gave a noise of distaste, "What kind of elevator just plays bongo music?" Marionette glanced over at Mike with the upmost amusement.

"I think it's nice. There's nothing fun about a silent elevator," he pointed out.

Mike gave him a flat look in response, "There's nothing fun about bongos either. This isn't even elevator music." He went quiet for a minute, but went to speak again.

He was cut off by Marionette adding in, "It's music in an elevator. I'm pretty certain that classifies as elevator music."

Mike exhaled and turned away, "I knew you were going to say something like that." He then focused on a keypad against the wall of the elevator, just looking at it and contemplating possible codes. "Fritz said the toys were brought here," Mike pointed out as the elevator abruptly stopped. "But I'm assuming you weren't or- What…?"

The elevator opened to reveal nearly a wall of caution tape blocking the way. There was also an open vent, not touched by the tape, but no less foreboding.

"Nothing like bright yellow tape to remind you that you're in immediate danger of being killed." Marionette was feeling a bit better by now and was still in a good mood, so he shrugged off the presence of the tape and the comment.

"I will protect you from anything down here, Mike. The last thing you need to worry about is getting killed," he quipped in response. "…And the toys may have been, but I wasn't. So this is new to me too." Mike slowly let the caution tape go at this point, if only because it being there only fueled his curiosity more than his fear.

"Then let's just go in and get this over with," Mike spoke in a sort of answer. He crouched down and shined the light into the depth of the vent. With a slow inhale to steady himself, he slid inside and crawled into the darkness.


	28. Chapter 28

The last thing Mike wanted was to crawl through a tight vent in the dark. It didn't feel safe, as he knew animatronics could climb through them. If it was any example; Marionette was easily moving through the vent behind him, and he had heard horror stories from Jeremy about some of the other toy animatronics. It didn't last and the vent opened into a small room. Upon shining the light around, he could see that it almost looked like an office, with large windows and blackened screens on the roof. He stepped out into the office and continue to observe.

There were a few more vent entrances and a couple of button panels from what he saw. The air smelled musty, stale, and the room was obnoxiously hot. With a brief cough, Mike took a few steps further into the room. A few remnants of animatronic looking beings were near the wall, but were unresponsive and incomplete.

"This could be a security office of some kind. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to not put an actual door in here, but it looks like it serves some sort of purpose." Marionette slid out behind him and looked around.

Mike started to look through some drawers. "Before we go blindly into the dark, maybe we can find some sort of map or something. I'm pretty sure the power's out. It must have been manually shut off if the elevator's still running," the security guard suggested. Marionette looked over the room with curiousness. His eyes eventually landed on one of the pedestal and the buttons. The one was a light button, he had seen one like it before, but the other was more obscure in being just a lightning bolt. It took him a moment to remember where he had seen it.

"…Okay, this seems important," Mike volunteered. Marionette was suddenly leaning over the crouched man's back and he shined his light on a note. There was a list of directions listed on the old, crumpled, forgotten not, but only one part seemed important. "Remember to shut down the power to the observation rooms before you leave. The electrical fuses are over in the breaker room on the other side of Ballora Gallery. Deactivating the fuses should be instantaneous; if the fuse shows that it is still on then turn on and off again."

He looked back, "Maybe we can get the lights back on. It depends on which of these leads to the Gallery." He shined his light over the vents.

Marionette hummed and tried to look through one of the windows, "It can't be too far. If need be, I can go ahead and scout out the area, then I'll come back and get you."

Mike immediately shot this plan down with a concerned look, "Mari, you've seen the horror movies. The second we split up is right when one of us will get killed. We have a better chance together." Marionette seemed amused by the suggestion.

The puppet didn't dwell on it and checked the other window. After a few moments he asked, "What did you say the gallery was called? Ballora Gallery, right?"

Mike agreed with this, "That's it. Why?" There was a hum for an answer and Marionette explained.

"There's a stage over there and- one, two, three- four little ballerinas on it. They're adorable; come look," he moved to the side so that Mike could look.

He could see nothing but darkness through the window, "I don't see anything." He looked to the animatronic, noticing the white, glowing pinpricks in his eyes.

"There's a stage right there and they're posted on it. They may just be dolls; they aren't moving at all," Marionette pointed out to his companion. "Maybe they are the Balloras? If that's the case, then this would be the vent we're looking for." This seemed like a good enough assumption. Even if there were more ballerinas, doll or not, then it was possible that this wasn't the room.

However, Mike went along with it since it made the most sense. "It's worth a shot. Keep an eye on those ballerinas; I don't want them sneaking up on us."

Right as he was preparing to get into the vent, Marionette suddenly dipped in front of him, smiling back as he slid into the vent legs first. "Perhaps I should lead the way, just to be safe," he offered and disappeared.

Mike playfully called after him, "Yeah, yeah. Ladies first."

Marionette chimed back, "I seem to remember a horror movie I watched very recently in which it was the lady who lived." At this point, Mike just stayed silent. Though more because he was wobbling through a vent. Though this vent shaft was much shorter than the one between the elevator and the office.

Soon Mike was standing in a large room. He flicked on his flashlight and cast it across the room towards a distant door. "There we go. That'll be the breaker room." He also shined the light over onto the stage where the four ballerinas were posed. He half expected them to not be there, instead scurrying around somewhere in the room. Alas, there they were, posed and unmoving. Their smiles were reminiscent of Marionette's own; but unlike his smile, theirs left Mike feeling generally more uneasy. He shined the light back on the door and started crossing over.

About halfway across the long room, something changed. The otherwise silent room was slowly filled with the sound of music. It spread across the space, originating from one of the back corners, and trailed along the tiles. Mike couldn't help but crouch down a little more in defensiveness. Music box music was a staple at Freddy's and was seldom a sign of anything good. Especially when he noticed that whatever was making the music was getting closer. It didn't help when the puppet suddenly gave a noise similar to a giggle.

"Do you hear that? That music, that's… That's wonderful," Marionette pointed out in a strange joy. Mike could hear the music getting closer and began to grow more concerned, especially with the puppet suddenly acting odd.

"Mari, there's something there," he whispered as he grabbed for the animatronic. Touching him, he could feel the striped being slowly spinning in place. "What are you doing?" he whispered in a firmer tone, unable to believe the situation. He flicked off his flashlight, hoping that the animatronic wouldn't see him. "…Please tell me it's not the music," Mike flatly begged, suddenly noticing to parallel between the behavior and the music.

"I'm fine, don't worry. It's just  _wonderful_ to listen to… Keep going, I won't let it get too close." This was all the confirmation that Mike needed. He crouched down further and tried to slowly shuffle through the dark. Whatever 'it' was, it moved in closer, moving around the area. It softly squeaked as it moved, which was the only indication to where its metallic body was. Marionette kept spinning, but always moved to stand between Mike and the thing.

By time Mike reached the door he felt a bit more confident. Whatever it had been, it didn't seem to be much of a threat, or was afraid enough of Marionette that it didn't get any closer. It wasn't until Mike was through the door and had it closed behind him that he felt safe enough to talk. "What exactly was that?"

Marionette seemed to sober up extremely quickly. "It was an animatronic… I think. I'm sorry, I was a little distracted," he admitted with embarrassment. Mike gave a scoff and approached a control panel immediately in front of them.

"A little distracted spinning in circles, maybe… Huh, what's going on here?" Mike started to look through the panel and a screen attached to it, fiddling with a few switches until the breaker room came to life. Or somewhat came to life. There were a few sparking wires and the screen turned on, which signaled that power returned to the immediate room. Mike was met on the screen with a map of the level they were on. He started to turn on the electricity in the rooms, scanning the map and trying to remember it.

"I'll pay more attention when we pass back through," Marionette insisted and started to explore the room. There was a passageway near the back wall that seemed to lead into a different part of the facility, but Marionette didn't want to leave Mike alone in the room. After becoming so distracted minutes earlier, the puppet simply didn't feel safe letting his guard down. He returned to Mike as he finished turning on the power. The security guard moved back from the panel and turned to the puppet.

"Okay, so I think I have a good idea of where we are. The other two vents off of the first room head to the Circus Gallery, the Circus Control room, and the Funtime room. Parts and Services is on the other side of the Funtime room. Our best bet is probably to check all of it and see if we can find the animatronic you're looking for." Marionette silently agreed as Mike approached the door again, "Let's just get back to the other office as quickly as possible. Preferably before whatever's making music out there finds us."

As cautiously as he could, Mike nudged the door open and stared out into the Ballora Gallery again. This time Mike planned on not using the flashlight and trying to get through the room in the dark, but noticed immediately that something had changed. The music had silenced itself and the animatronic, if it was still there, was completely quiet. Mike let the door slide closed and knelt down, waiting for a few moments before beginning to slowly crawl back towards the vent. Even through the power was on, the room was practically pitch black.

Something didn't feel right and while Mike only felt it from the silence, Marionette knew the other animatronic was still there, but found his own troubling issues with what he could feel of it. It wasn't the same as one of the animatronics at Freddy's; something didn't feel 'all there'. He stopped floating and Mike stopped crouching at the same time, when a soft shifting noise could be heard from some distance in front of them. It was a strange noise, like metal objects slowing sliding against each other. Out of reflex, Mike flicked the flashlight on.

It was then when Mike saw what 'it' was. It was clearly an animatronic and seemed to be a ballerina from its pose and its design. Other than this, everything else was eerily out of sorts. She was in a ballerina pose, but hunched forward towards the vent, as though struggling to stay upright. Cracks around her middle and back spilled wires, and her right leg missed a large portion of its leg, revealing a metal structure underneath the covering. She slowly turned, her head craning to look back instead of further focusing on the vent.

Her face was also damaged. It seemed to be made of plates, but they were put together unevenly, with one sitting higher than the other. Then there were her eyes. Eyelids were opened to reveal emptiness beneath them; she was missing her eyes. As she turned her body continued to teeter awkwardly, as though she was struggling to stand.

" _Is someone there?"_ she faced in the human's direction.  _"I can hear your breathing."_ Her voice was deceptively smooth, almost a complete mimic of a human's, but was laced with crackling and fuzzing.

Mike reacted abruptly, clicking the flashlight back off out of reflex. He immediately regretted the motion, knowing she could hear the sound the button made. Now in the darkness, there was the sound of movement and shuffling as the animatronic started to move in. The human started to crawl out of her line of movement while the puppet started to softly chime in a distracting way. Clearly he was trying to keep the animatronic, possibly 'Ballora', away from his companion. Mike took advantage of this and wandered into the dark, searching for the wall.

Instead, his hand came in contact with what was obliviously the stage he had seen earlier. Mike ran his hand along the side and up atop it, planning to use it as a guide to get him to the wall. Or he was going to when he was suddenly interrupted by bright lights illuminating the stage. In this instance he was now face to face with the four, small ballerinas; though they had moved from their dancing positions to stand right in front of him. The stared with empty eyes and blank smiles, one moving closer towards his hand, and he retracted it immediately.

He had clenched his teeth to avoid crying out, and yet somehow Ballora was still alerted to his presence. By time Mike looked back, Ballora had focused on him and was moving in quick spins towards him. It would've been amusing if not for the fact that a falling apart ballerina with murder in its eyes, or lack thereof, was coming for him. Then she suddenly jolted as though she planned to jump towards him, but was caught midway through the motion. In the lights of the stage, Mike could see the strings that were holding her back.

The puppet had her enwrapped. Ballora struggled against the binds, trying to free herself, but seemed to twitch and slow during the process. It was almost as though the strings themselves were doing something more than holding her still. Suddenly Marionette swung his arm out to point towards the vent off in the dark. The gesture was obvious; he wanted Mike to flee to safety and, considering that he had the situation handled, Mike was willing to do it. The motion moving his strings and causing a large section of her chest plate to drop off.

Underneath wasn't what Mike came to recognize as an endoskeleton. Instead it was a matted miss of crisscrossed wires that didn't look appropriately set. Perhaps this was why she was so off balance. He didn't spend more time dwelling on it; Mike made a mad dash towards the vent, deciding that the caution method had simply not worked in his favor. He paused at the vent when the sudden sound of music returned. This time, it was 'Pop Goes the Weasel', Marionette's own music. Accompanying it shortly afterwards was scuffling and a loud cracking noise, then a thud.

Mike was already in the vent when he heard the crack. He reacted immediately by turning back and shining his light down the vent. Instead of seeing out into the gallery, Mike's vision was blocked by one of the tiny ballerinas. He scowled at it and turned away, planning to climb into the office and turn the lights on. In an instant the ballerina started trying to climb his leg. Its small hands tugged at his pants and it used this grip to climb. Mike was quick to kick it off, knocking it out of the vent. As he turned away three more returned in its place.

One yanked at his ankle, the other climbed on his arm, and the third even tried to climb under his shirt. This time he was more frantic, cawing at the wooden dolls. "Get off of me!" he commanded, throwing them back out of the vent. Mike then reached out and grabbed the edge of the vent, dragging himself out. Another of the tiny ballerinas leapt onto his leg. It made an aggressive, hissing noise and moved much quicker. "I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm not letting you on my face!" Mike scolded and grabbed it tightly.

He threw it back out of the vent and went the rest of the way, starting to climb out. Once again there was a familiar bumping noise in the vent. Mike was fed up and yanked off his Taser. "Alright, fine! If you-!"

Mike cut off as he swung his arm around. He had turned it on, was clearly prepared to shock whatever was coming through, but stopped when he recognized what exactly was climbing through the vent. Marionette didn't even look surprised as Mike quickly put the taser away. "You really need to warn me before you do that."

The puppet slid out of the vent after the security guard. The latter then went to the button panel and turned on the light button for the stage, noticing the lights were off again. "Something must have turned the lights on from in here. Could've been another one of those annoying, little ballerinas, but be on your guard." He looked over, noticing that Marionette seemed to be lost in thought. He had his arms crossed and was looking perplexed, even though his face showed his usual smile. "Something on your mind?"

"It's a bit strange. Usually I can feel an animatronic out very quickly. Emotions, anger, the soul in them; it's very open to see… But she was very faint. I can't tell if she is not all there or if she's in the process of moving on. Then there was how easily her body was falling apart-… It's unimportant." Marionette suddenly added the last part in with a wave of the hand. "She's not who we're looking for. That much I do know." His tone returned to a more pleasant and confident one.

Mike then added in, "I heard that scuffle in there and thought… You know."

He gestured to his own face to signal Marionette's own mask. "Hmm?... Oh, no, nothing like that! Ballora got a bit too close for my liking, so I popped over her, threw her balance off, and she fell over. Fell apart as well. Which is a shame, no girl should give up their performing career just to  _fall for_ me."

The end grew even more playful in tone. Whether or not Marionette enjoyed doing what he did, which he didn't, he was still able to keep with the relatively lighthearted banter. Mike didn't back down either and gave a sarcastic clap.

"That's a nice way to describe how you throttled poor Ballora," Mike responded with a smirk. "And against your own kind. Mari, I must say I'm surprised."

This seemed to oddly strike a chord in the puppet. He reacted with a brief flinch, though covered it quickly with an adequate excuse. "I'm here to keep you safe, Mike. I can put aside animatronic comradery for the time being." Mike had noticed the subtle reaction and considered questioning it more, but Marionette quickly changed the subject.

"Which vent was which again?" he questioned and Mike answered.

"That one leads into the Circus Control and the Circus Gallery. It's probably crawling with animatronics. The other leads to the Funtime room and the Parts and Service room, and is also probably crawling with animatronics. I'm willing to search wherever so you make the call." It seemed only fair to give Marionette the choice considering that he knew more about who they were looking for. "It seems like a waste to go through the Funtime room if it is just going to be like the Ballora Gallery."

Marionette turned to Mike, "Usually the one straight ahead is the important one, so I say we throw caution to the wind and go straight into the Circus are. We'll skip a lot more excess walking."

Mike agreed with Marionette's statement and the two headed into the vent. It was longer; just about the same length as the vent leading in from the elevator. Again, Marionette led the way into the new room, with Mike loyally following. The vent abruptly ended in the Circus Control room, which looked somewhat similar to the office they had just left.

Large windows showed out into darkness while a lit control panel was lit to life. Ultimately, the control panel was worthless without adequate directions, as most of the buttons were unlabeled. There was a separate panel with the two buttons from before on it. Mike went for these and pressed the uppermost button, hoping to have the room light before him. Instead the light didn't seem to work correctly and his hand went for the second button. He was stopped by a black hand grasping his wrist. It took Mike aback and he glanced down, then to the puppet.

"Don't press that one," Marionette suddenly commanded, staring out into the darkness of the windows. If it hadn't been for the cold feeling he suddenly got when Mike reached for the button, he would've never realized that he recognized it. He would've never put the pieces together. "That won't help us." He hoped Mike would let it drop, but the human quirked a brow.

"Then what does it do? I just assumed it was an electricity control," which he had. It occurred to him, suddenly, that he had seen the small lightning bolt recently. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the taser. On the back of it was an identical lightning bolt, the same shape and size. He didn't know where the taser had been made, considering that he got it from Fritz, but it was too coincidental. He knew that the button had to be some sort of built in taser used when animatronics became aggressive. Or he hoped that was what it was used for. He always assumed that shocking animatronics was not a common practice; that even using it on the mini ballerinas was an overreaction.

"It's to jolt the animatronics, right?" Mike asked. "That seems pretty extreme. I mean, I'm holding this here, but to build one into the control panel. Why would you need to do it that much?" Mike didn't expect answers; he was really just talking out loud. "…Do you ever get the feeling that you're staring at something important, but you just don't have all the pieces? I'm getting that feeling again."

Marionette slowly nodded in agreement. "Something… Something is wrong here. Something happened down here," he admitted.

"I have a feeling that a lot of things happened down here. Otherwise, why would functioning animatronics be sealed down here in an abandoned factory?" Mike pointed out. Just saying the words made him feel uncomfortable, especially if these animatronics also carried the souls of children in them. Marionette remained silent, trying to see through the window, still holding onto his companion's wrist. "I don't know what's wrong with the lights, but this panel is practically impossible to decode. Even then, it might not control the lights."

Marionette's grip tightened a little firmer, "…Then we need to find a way inside, don't we?" Mike didn't exactly want to accept this answer, but he knew they had no choice.

"Kill me now," Mike murmured under his breath. He followed with a sigh and tried the lights once more. They again made the noise, but failed to illuminate. "There was a section of rooms between the Funtime Gallery and the Circus Gallery. Maybe we can go through there," Mike pointed out, but noticed that the animatronic still was silent. "Mari?"

"That makes sense," Marionette answered. He was clearly distracted and readjusted his grip on Mike's wrist, then released him completely. "Let's not waste any more time here." Truly, the puppet didn't want to stay in this control room much longer, and eagerly slid into the vent. Mike didn't pry and instead put the taser away before checking the windows one more time. He felt like he was being watched through the windows; an uneasy feeling.

He knelt down to climb into the vent, unable to see Marionette inside. "Don't leave me back here. I already got ambushed once in a vent," he called after the puppet.

There was no response at first and he climbed in. Now Mike was more insistent, "Look, I know this is a pretty rough situation… Mari?" He cut off midway as he heard a strange, banging noise further in the vent. He shuffled further into the dark vent, a little faster, "What was that?" He hoped it was just one of the small ballerinas, but what followed was something much different. There was the frantic chime of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' along with the sound of aggressive scuffling and banging further on.

Mike didn't wait even a moment and began to quickly crawl through the vent. He struggled to get his flashlight on, but focused more on crawling quickly than shining the light down the passage. The music devolved into a distorted jumble of radio noises, static, and a mix between banging and sliding. Something had gotten ahold of Marionette and there was clearly a struggle. Mike tightened his grip on the crowbar, prepared to attack whatever was attacking the Puppet, but by time he could see from the incoming offices' lighting he only caught the end of it.

There was a brief blur of black fabric and some sort of metal before it disappeared out of his narrow line of view. By time Mike got into the control room, stumbling out and preparing for a fight, both Marionette and whatever had grabbed him were gone.

Mike's only companion was gone.


	29. Chapter 29

It didn't take Mike too long to realize that he could still faintly hear nearby movement. This turned his focus to the vent that was leading into the Funtime Auditorium. He didn't know what was waiting there, but he did know that whatever took Marionette was probably not friendly. He could only hope that he could get to the animatronic before anything happened. A sort of anger welled up in Mike; something currently had ahold of him and could do whatever it wanted. It had stolen Marionette from him.

He knelt and shined his light into the vent. There wasn't anything he could see and he was determined to follow. This was immediately interrupted by a scurrying noise from behind and he glanced back out of reflex. Climbing out of the other vent were the Minireenas, all four of them. One of them sprung forwards and landed on Mike's leg, trying to climb him. The others followed suit and Mike struggled to kick them off. He didn't have time for this and could only stare as they looked upwards at him. Their eyes turned yellow and their smiles looked evil.

Finally, Mike decided to react more forcefully. With one swipe of his arm, he swung the crowbar down and knocked the first one off. It came back quickly, but in the meantime, he struck at the others. One hit the ground heavily and stopped moving. The other three only seemed to become quicker after their fourth sister fell. The frantic security guard knew that Marionette and his attacker were only getting further away, so in a further act of desperation he brought out the taser and turned it on. The second it sparked to life he saw a reaction.

The Minireenas all pulled back away from Mike. The glow in their eyes went dead, they flinched back as though actually disturbed, and then they scurried back into the vent once again. Their fourth was abandoned on the floor. For a split-second Mike felt a sort of power coursing through him. He had the answer to warding off at least some of the animatronics; they feared the electricity coursing through the taser. They would fear him as well, which he wanted; if he was to get Marionette back then he needed this advantage.

He took into the vent of the Funtime 'Gallery' and quickly came out in a darkened room. There was a single lone light midway across the room. It seemed to be a stage light hanging from the roof that had just gotten bent in the wrong direction, but its light partially illuminated a door on the other side of the room. 

 _"_ _The parts and service room…"_ Mike reminded himself. The door looked slightly ajar from this lighting and his suspicion raised. This immediately followed by panic; he knew what could happen to an animatronic in the parts and service room. He crouched down as he had done in the Ballora Gallery and began to crawl across the room. Mike wasn't more than a few feet in when he was interrupted by a voice.

" _H-Hey Bon Bon, I think that's- that's- that's the birthday boy over there! Let's-."_ The rest of the line was completely overtaken by static and the unsettling voice fell silent. For a moment Mike came to a stop, listening as a few footsteps moved by the distant wall. These footsteps had not come from the source of the voice.  _"_

_There's two of them. You've got to be kidding me…"_

And from the footsteps and fully functional voice, Mike highly doubted that one of them was small like the Minireenas had been. These seemed to be two, large, completely threatening animatronics. Or as threatening as one could be being named 'Bon Bon'. Once he was certain that suspicion had to die down, Mike began to shuffle forwards again. He had only gotten a few more feet when the voice broke out again. " _I know you're over there somewhere!"_ The voice almost seemed giddy in delight at its revelation.

The footsteps got closer. Now both animatronics were wandering around the room. Mike moved a few steps closer towards the door, not wanting to get caught by a wandering animatronic. He then stopped, waited, and listened as a heavy, clanking body came to a stop in front of him. It blocked the light entirely, which was already too dim to see the full form in. Mike tried to stay as silent as possible as the animatronic belted out. " _I know you're over there some-ome-where!"_ Apparently he didn't, as from his voice he was facing a different direction entirely.

A second animatronic shuffled by behind him, moving much faster than Ballora or this one did. This spurred Mike to move to the side and start trying to finish the walk to the room. This didn't go as well as he hoped. While he could hear one of the animatronics near the stage, the second one, which had been talking, was shuffling closer behind him. Mike had been forced to stop yet again. He tightened his hold on the crowbar and listened in, hoping it would wander off. Instead, the voice spoke once more, as close as it could be to the back of his head.

" _We-ell, hello again!"_ Mike reacted before he could even think. In a sudden flash of adrenaline, he stood, spun around, and swung out. The crowbar struck something hard and he could hear whatever it was fall to the floor with a loud bang. The closest thing he could compare the noise to was the crack of a baseball bat against a ball. Though if both the ball and bat were made of metal. The second after he registered the noise, and the possibility that he had injured the animatronic, Mike reacted by bringing out his flashlight.

The light revealed more than he expected. There, standing before him, was a white and purple version of Freddy Fazbear. Its body was styled in the same way as Ballora's had been. It was even damaged like Ballora's had been, with wires poking out of areas between the plates of its body. The most obvious thing was its opened chest which revealed a gaping cavity with only some of the metal cords contained inside. He looked to the face, to the cavity, to its arm which ended abruptly and lacked a hand. His eyes flickered over for just a moment to the floor.

There laid a mangled heap of metal wires, blue exterior, and a couple of twitching ears. It looked to be a small Bonnie and Mike could only assume it was 'Bon Bon'. All of this felt like it was in slow motion, especially as Mike looked back to the Freddy's face. In reality it had only been a few seconds at most. Funtime Freddy stared at the empty space on his arm. Then he slowly looked back to Mike, quietly staring him down with equally blue eyes. With a shriek of metal, his face plates opened and revealed his endoskeleton beneath.

Mike swung forwards with his crowbar as Freddy started to stagger forwards. He didn't shut the flashlight off yet; it wasn't as though there was much of a reason to. Freddy made it abundantly clear that he could find him without the lights guiding him. Though Mike noticed out of the corner of his eye that the other animatronic had noticed too and was twitching off to the side. This one was some sort of Foxy character except it was white and pink, possibly the alleged 'pink Foxy' Jeremy mentioned. It didn't move in right away; it instead watched as Funtime Freddy started to trudge in closer.

The security guard took a swing in an attempt to ward him off. It didn't work. With the items he was juggling in his hands, he couldn't immediately grab the taser. He didn't want to shut the flashlight off just yet and he certainly didn't want to put down his only weapon. Freddy moved a little faster, lashing out with his good arm and trying to grab ahold of Mike. Mike responded by striking his hand back.

"Back the hell off, Freddy!" Mike called out in a warning. "And what the hell did you do to my puppet?!"

He didn't expect a response. Freddy didn't disappoint. Now Freddy decided to keep quiet and instead continued to move in, reaching out for him as he staggered in a heavy wobble. Mike struck it on the chest, but Freddy moved in quick. It put its arm around him like it was intending to hug him. Mike couldn't tell if it wanted to move his face closer or move him closer to its gaping belly. Either way he could only imagine all the metal clamping down on his flesh and grew frantic. The crowbar was dropped and the taser was yanked out.

Funtime Freddy leaned in only to suddenly get a jolt into the exposed wires along its middle. It let out a deep groan, one that contrasted with the voice from earlier. As the arms went somewhat limp, Mike shoved his way past, scrambling to gather the crowbar under his arm with the flashlight, and began to back towards the door. Funtime Foxy sprinted about five steps before coming to an abrupt halt at the sight of the taser in his hand. Mike turned it back on, letting the electricity course along the front to ward the animatronic off.

Like the Minireenas, these animatronics clearly feared the sight of the taser alone. Unlike the Minireenas, Funtime Freddy and Funtime Foxy were not driven out of the room. They kept a small amount of distance, but continued to follow and were clearly waiting for Mike to slip up. He flicked the light between both and backed towards the door. "Both of you stay back or I'm going to jolt you straight through the middle!" Mike threatened. In response, there suddenly came the sound of machinery turning on.

However, the Funtime characters were innocent of this. The noise was clearly coming from the room that Mike was trying to get to, the parts and service room. Knowing that the noise couldn't be anything good, Mike broke into a sprint. Foxy and Freddy immediately took pursuit, the former much faster than the latter. It was only by luck that Mike was close enough to slip inside and shut the door behind him. He locked the bolt lock on the handle before focusing on what was happening in the room. Everything was extremely quick; frantic.

That didn't change in the parts and service room. Mike located Marionette almost immediately and found him in a situation that he did not expect. The noise he had heard was a conveyer belt starting up. Marionette was on the conveyor, struggling with what looked at first like a mass of wires laying on him. One of his arms was reaching out and trying to grab onto the edge of the conveyor belt, while the other arm was shielding his mask as the wires tried to struggle past. It was only now that Mike realized that the wires were actively moving.

"Get off him!" Mike sprung forward and scrambled to get the wires off Marionette before they would both disappear into the opening in the wall. It was then that he noticed a single eye connected to the top of the mass, staring directly at him. Instantly, Mike brought the crowbar onto it and smashed it. The wires made no noise in response, but seemed to loosen their tight hold as Marionette slid out a bit more. It tried to tighten down; its wires poking into the black fabric as though wanting to burrow inside.

He wedged the crowbar between the Marionette and the wires, then tried to pry them apart. "Come on…" The tangled parts had to be sentient as they were incredibly reluctant to let the puppet go. In a last shove, a last push of strength, the being was shoved off onto the conveyor. Marionette was able to easily slid out in the last second, but Mike didn't relax until the mat of wires disappeared out of sight. "Yeah, that's not going to give me nightmares or anything…" Mike muttered and then looked to Marionette. "Are you okay?"

Marionette was hovering beside him and looking very uncomfortable. He was rubbing over his arms and occasionally shivered; his face look mostly blank, but his eyes were more widened than usual. Mike had never seen Marionette look this unsteady. "It didn't do anything to you, did it?" he asked in growing concern. Marionette shook his head and finally looked over to his companion.

"No, it didn't… But it wanted to." He shivered again, "It wanted under my fabric, but it didn't want what was there. So, it went for my mask instead."

Mike didn't completely understand what this meant, but he had seen it try and go for Marionette's mask. There were so many questions that Mike wanted to ask, hoping to get some answers, but it was clear that the event bothered Marionette. "I couldn't teleport away. I couldn't fade from its grip…" the puppet cut off after this. Mike was briefly distracted by shuffling and banging outside of the door. He hadn't notice the animatronics at the door earlier, which wasn't too surprising considering what he came in on.

"Purple Freddy and Pink Foxy were hounding me on the way here. That's probably still them stumbling around out there," Mike pointed out. He then looked to Marionette and gave an exhale, reaching out to put a friendly arm around him. "Hey," he began, rubbing his shoulder. "You got jumped. I wasn't going to let anything keep you; that's what I'm here for."

This seemed to work as Marionette's smile returned once again and he eased into Mike's grasp. "It seems I don't deal with surprises well… But it won't happen again." The white lights reappeared in his eyes as they had been earlier. "I  _won't_ let it happen again."

As unsettling as this would be, Mike instead took it as a good sign. "Good, because I'm going to need your help." He retrieved the taser and checked the conveyer once more to make sure that the thing wasn't crawling back in. "Freddy and Foxy know I'm in here. The second we leave this room, they'll be on me, and they've got a high pain tolerance. We need to get out of here… And probably need to leave the facility."

"…I agree," Marionette answered.

Mike was a little surprised, "I… Thought you'd put up a bigger fight… Unless that was the person we were looking for?"

The puppet shook his head, "No. I don't know where he is… But it is very possible that I was had. That this was nothing but a ruse, made to lure us down here." There were too many questions to count. So instead, Marionette abruptly changed the focus. "I can overtake Freddy and Foxy like I did to Ballora, if you know what you plan on doing." Mike agreed with this plan and approached the door.

After a few seconds to brace themselves, the door was unlocked and Marionette slipped through. It was by sheer luck that Freddy and Foxy had wandered off away from the door. Mike turned off the flashlight before he entered the room. It would be more difficult to not see while trying to fight off two animatronics, but the cover of darkness was his best chance. It didn't take long before he suddenly heard the ringing sound of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' followed by heavy, thumping footsteps. Marionette had gotten Freddy.

Mike moved in to where the fight was occurring. Using the audio as his guide, he got to Freddy's side and pounced. He swung his crowbar until it collided with Freddy's head. He heard the sound of his face opening again, but the bear was too tangled in the puppet's strings to fight back. Even when he started to get his arm raised, Mike lashed out with a jolt of the taser. He immediately regretted it, thinking it would shock Marionette, but this didn't seem to be the case. The puppet didn't even flinch.

Another strike of the crowbar and part of Freddy's open plates came off. The only reason Mike knew was because he could hear them when they hit the ground. It was now when another set of footsteps could be heard. "Foxy," Mike simply stated in a warning and ducked out of the way. He crouched on the floor off to the side, hearing Foxy run to Freddy. For a few moments, it circled Freddy and Marionette's music grew more distant as he released Freddy and tried to lure Foxy off. Foxy took the bait, as could be heard from the fast footsteps.

Mike was about ready to follow when a heavy arm landed on his back. " _Well, hello again~!"_ All the air was instantly knocked out of his lungs and he fell forwards into a stagger. Freddy's arm had been heavier than he could ever expect. The security guard twisted around and swung out with the crowbar. This time Freddy was expecting him and the purple bear grabbed ahold of the crowbar. For a split-second Mike just stared; unsure what to do since using the taser would shock him too unless he released the crowbar, which he didn't want to do.

That was, until something slammed into Funtime Freddy and caused him to release the crowbar. From the sudden blaring of music right in front of him, Mike knew it had been Marionette who sprung onto Freddy and that now they were warring. He had to take the risk and turned the flashlight back on just in time to see Marionette get knocked to the floor. Mike immediately became defensive, not realizing that the puppet dropped to the floor to both dodge Freddy and target his legs. Funtime Freddy awkwardly swung with his handless arm.

This was when Mike literally stepped in. Now basically standing over Marionette, Mike caught the arm with his crowbar. This time he expected the weight, but found that it was much heavier than he had expected. Mike kept a hold on it regardless as Marionette slipped backwards, through Mike's legs, and then circled Funtime Freddy. Now he also tried a new tactic and decided to try and tip him over with a different variety of physical means. Again, he focused on wrapping his strings around Freddy's legs, then proceeded to work with his telekinesis to shove Freddy back.

Funtime Freddy collapsed onto his back. His body didn't react well and he shed a few plates, but he seemed to still be functioning fine. The only thing wrong with him being that he couldn't get off of his back easily. Mike now focused his attention to his next problem; the rapidly approaching Foxy. Funtime Foxy was in near perfect shape and it stalked the human feverishly. Its body twitched, its teeth were bared, and Mike knew it was only the taser that kept it back. He wasn't stupid and had no intention to fight Foxy without Marionette.

He backed away from the approaching animatronic and lifted the taser threateningly. It moved in slowly, he continued to back away, and he expected at any moment for it to attack. What he didn't expect was what came out of nowhere right after this. Mike had no idea that his biggest threat was located onto a few steps behind him. He flashed the flashlight at Funtime Foxy and watched it shield back slightly.  _"Guess it's like Foxy; it doesn't like flickering lights."_ He made this revelation, he noticed Marionette turning his attention to Foxy, and he took another step back.

Mike didn't know how a tile covered floor managed to be so soft. The spot held his weight for only a second before his foot went through. He tried to catch himself, but by time Mike fell back on the decaying floor, hidden by the shadows of the Funtime Auditorium, there was no stopping it. In a blur of scrambling he plummeted to the floor beneath and landed heavily on the matter that fell with him, and whatever was already laying below. Everything was remarkably calm for a few moments. Mike didn't feel much, but was still alert.

It was by luck alone that a room with such a high ceiling as the auditorium had a room beneath it that was much smaller in height. It was filled with machinery, probably machinery that worked the floor above it, but Mike could barely see and didn't exactly care in his position.  _"_

 _Don't move. Something could be broken, you could break something, don't move,"_ Mike begged himself as he stared into the room above.

The flashlight was still in the Auditorium and shined clearly enough that he could see when Funtime Foxy appeared at the hole. He also saw when strings yanked it back. There was a scuffle, a barrage of sharp static and radio gargle as Marionette drove Foxy back, and only then did the puppet appear.

"Mike!" He peered inside before lowering down beside the human, looking him over.

Mike stiffly raised a hand, "I'm okay. Just… Ugh… Keep Foxy back. I need a minute." Everything hurt, especially his back, and Mike slowly raised his head and other arm. Everything was moving fine and there wasn't any numbness. He could move his legs fine as well. There was a sharp pain in his lower back, far off to the right. He hissed at the sensation. "I think I fell on something… And that something was probable the taser. Damn…"

Marionette knelt down beside him and looked him over. "Just as long as you're okay. That was quite a fall!" There was amusement in his voice along with relief. "Goodness, I barely even saw it! One moment you were there and just suddenly through the floor."

Mike scoffed a little, or it may have been a choke as he struggled to sit upwards. The pain was only intensifying when he did, "I'm glad to amuse you so much. Maybe next time I'll swan dive." He made sure to sound as cynical as possible to show how much he appreciated the laughter at his expense.

"Now you don't have to be like that. Let's get you back-." Marionette fell silent mid-way through. Mike's first reaction was that the puppet had saw something approaching in the room. Worst case scenario, he supposed, would be the sentient wires who somehow managed to hunt him down before.

"What is it? Did that thing come back?" Mike asked, trying to turn his head enough to see back behind him.

"Mike… You're  _bleeding_ ," Marionette gasped out.

Mike cringed and tensed, which only made his back hurt worse. "What did you expect? I just fell through the floor, of course I'm-…" It was only then that he cut off. It was from a mix of pain from the motion of reaching back and feeling the bothering area, and actually feeling the bothersome area itself. Hot, sticky fluid immediately met his fingers, along with the feeling of metal.

He thought it was only against his skin, but all it took was a slight shift to realize that it was in deep. This wasn't just a slice from a random piece of rubbish, Mike knew it pierced deeper than that. If the fact that he couldn't move off it was any indication. Shock clutched his body as he realized what this meant. Not only was he in this abandoned factory with a group of animatronics, but he had just gotten injured, and he had no way to call for help. Pulling his hand back he could see the blood that Marionette had pointed out on his fingers.

There was more blood than he could've expected. Mike could only stare at the stark red in the dim light. Marionette face was contorted in horror and he continued to stay knelt there, seemingly frozen in place. Before Mike could even stop himself, words slipped out, "I'm dead."


	30. Chapter 30

It took a few more minutes until Mike could recover enough to process what he needed to do. By that point Marionette was frantic; he had already started making a sort of mix between radio garble and distorted chiming, staring at the wound that he could see and Mike could not. What Mike could tell about the wound was that the metal thing, whatever it was, was still lodged inside while staying connected to a heavy piece partially decayed wood. He wouldn't able to pull it out of the wood like this, so he had only one option.

"Okay, just… I need your help. I need to get it out and I'm going to have to lift myself off it," Mike insisted. He was trying so hard to believe what he was saying, but every word felt entirely unreal.

Marionette was reluctant. "I can't do it. You'll start bleeding; you're not supposed to take it out." Apparently, he knew some sort of first aid and seemed to be standing by it. That, or Marionette was just too terrified to do anything. Personally, Mike doubted this, doubted that Marionette knew the severity of the wound, even when the puppet clearly did. Or it was Mike's own denial. That wasn't too out of reason.

"I don't have a choice. The animatronics are going to come after us and I can't just sit down here," Mike encouraged the male. He then reached out his arm towards him, "Just brace me. I'll do all the hard work." Marionette slowly took Mike's arm before reaching and laying his other hand on Mike's back, preparing to assist a bit more than previously suggested. Slowly, Mike pressed his free hand to the ground and lifted himself.

It hurt more coming out than it did going in. Mike was sure of it; he had barely moved when it started to throb. He grunted through clenched teeth and struggled to keep his breathing in check. Slowly he continued to raise, letting the metal slide further out, but it felt like there was so much inside. With every second he could only contemplate how much damage it had done internally. Then it slid out and Mike gave a final, smothered cry. Before he could even catch his breath, Marionette's hand was on the wound, and Mike almost stopped him.

He realized just in time that Marionette was trying to stunt the bleeding with the pressure. It wasn't much, but it was something. "Hold on, I think I can…" Mike reached around, feeling the tear in his shirt, and ripped off a patch of it. Now he wished that he had brought the jacket in, but since he didn't the patch would have to do. Mike folded it and moved it back towards the wound.

Marionette used it now and pressed it against the wound, but was starting to grow more worried. "You started- You started to bleed worse. Mike, you're bleeding right through."

"I'll be okay, alright?" Mike insisted. Marionette was growing frantic and Mike knew why. Naturally he would know something about severe injuries and what damage they could cause, considering his own hospital experience. Perhaps he studied into it after the fact, or maybe the sight of blood just made him anxious. Or perhaps Mike was spending too much time focusing on petty things to ignore the fact that he was in actual peril. "We need to figure something out. I can't call anyone and even if I could I don't know if they'd get past everything to get down here, so we're on our own."

He inhaled, held the air in, and felt as his side shot in pain. The air released with an unsteady cough. "And I'm not going to be able to fight off Foxy and Freddy like this. I need to keep calm or it might start bleeding faster… And that's completely ignoring the fact that running with this is going to probably hurt like hell." He turned back to look at the jutting object that had stuck into his back. He paled at how sharp it looked, how deep it could have gone in, and inwardly shuddered. It didn't look good for him from this angle.

Marionette already knew the situation was grim before Mike started listing the additional facts. He could see the blood, he could see the deep wound, and he could tell that Mike was terrified. Even if he wasn't trying to show it, he could tell that Mike already knew how severe the situation was. The puppet knew that he would have to step in.

"Stay here," he began, taking Mike's hand in his free one and giving it a soft squeeze. "I can take care of the animatronics. I won't let them hurt you… Then I will come back once the coast is clear to get you to the elevator."

Mike seemed surprised by the suggestion. "Mari, that thing is probably running around out there. We can figure this out together… If it jumps you again, then I'm pretty much dead," he pointed out.

Marionette reacted immediately and snapped at him, "Don't say that. You told me you trusted me; I'm not going to let anything get you." He calmed a little more, squeezing Mike's hand once more. "I can protect you from them… Just stay here, stay quiet, and keep still." He guided Mike's hand to the covered wound.

After removing his own hand, he coaxed Mike's in its place to keep pressure on the stab wound. He almost seemed reluctant to release Mike's hand. After a moment, he started to move back, raising to full height again. "I won't be long, I promise," Marionette swore and Mike slowly nodded. He trusted him, but the whole situation made him feel very out of touch. He was practically defenseless now, or at least would have much more difficulty protecting himself. The puppet searched the surrounding area before finding the taser laying some ways away.

"Keep this close. It's some protection if something does get close," Marionette encouraged him as he moved it with his telekinesis to Mike's side.

Mike took the taser with his free hand and held it tightly, nodding in agreement. "It's not like I haven't done it tonight." Marionette started to raise when Mike stopped him. "Hey, before you go…" Mike paused for a moment, not sure what he wanted to say, and exhaled quietly. Then he forced a playful smile, "I'm going to really owe you after this."

Marionette's smile seemed to widen and his tone became slightly lighter, "You already owe me."

Mike gave a slight, still forced smirk, "Rescuing you from animatronic spaghetti has to count for something... Be careful."

The last words betrayed the concern and the puppet softly responded, "I will…" Then he slipped but into the floor above. Marionette knew what was coming would be a bit more difficult than he was anticipating. It was one thing to incapacitate animatronics to get Mike past. This time he had to make sure that nothing would be coming after him.

Marionette didn't enjoy having to attack other animatronics. Especially not when they looked like the ones who were once his friends. Freddy had already managed to right himself again and had joined Foxy in stalking around the vent that led to the control module. They wouldn't be letting Mike pass anytime soon and with all the spilt blood Marionette knew he didn't have time to try and convince them. It was then that his gaze fell on the broken form of the Bonnie hand puppet laying on the ground.

It had never made any response and upon looking it over, looked at lifeless as could be. As though it hadn't ever been turned on; like Freddy had just been carrying a limp doll on his arm. Without seeing it, Marionette had been able to piece where it came from together. Slowly he knelt down and took the Bonnie into his hands. Even with the clock ticking, he was stuck in doing it, staring at this lifeless animatronic.

_"Taken way too soon, I'm not at all what used to be~."_

At this time, Mike could still actually hear Marionette, as he wasn't too far from where he was. He didn't even know what to think and turned his head in disbelief, trying to sort out exactly what was happening.

Marionette stroked over Bonnie's limp head, " _Shifting in a box, the past is nothing more than just a dream~."_ He looked over to the forms of Funtime Freddy and Foxy. Externally they looked somewhat intact, but they were empty of the souls that he suspected; just vicious shells with nothing on their mind except to kill, even if another animatronic was trying to stop them.

" _Now I hear the call of evil growing once again~…"_ Just thinking of this reminded him of how empty he was in doing this. These weren't his friends; they weren't even sentient animatronics in this state. They were just a danger to Mike… Mike meant more than this, and Marionette would do anything to protect him. No matter how much it felt like a betrayal.  _"I'm powerless to change your fates~,"_ he carefully set Bonnie back onto the floor and steeled himself for what was coming. These weren't his friends; his only friend was injured nearby.  _"But in the end, I'll shelter you, my friends~."_

Slowly Marionette raised and faced towards the two animatronics. They clearly heard him as they were now facing him directly, with Funtime Foxy taking a step closer.  _"Tonight we roam and if they listen really close~…"_ Marionette continued, his own music giving him a jolting rush. It was something to overtake the erratic rush of the usual music. Tonight he wasn't just someone's jack-in-the-box; he would dance on his own term.  _"They can hear us sing our song~."_ He waited as Funtime Foxy rushed in and dove towards him; its face plates opening to reveal the mangle of wires underneath.

In the last second, with Funtime Foxy inches from touching him, Marionette abruptly skirted out of the way and gave a telekinetic shove. The push knocked it slightly off course and instead of unintentionally getting closer to the hole, it landed heavily on its side; stunned by the blow that it couldn't see.  _"_

 _And I can't give you back the things you had~,"_ Marionette continued as he twisted around, now going directly for Funtime Freddy. As it took a swing, he wrapped his strings tightly around it and threw himself around its body, tightening his hold.

" _But you don't have to do this on your own~."_ Funtime Foxy got to its feet while Funtime Freddy tried to fight the hold on it. It started to crackle through a prerecorded message when Marionette's strings tapped deeper inside. Since there was no warring consciousness, Freddy gave extremely quickly and his body was fully at Marionette's mercy. Foxy went to circle and attack Marionette, but at the last moment Freddy was controlled by his puppeteer, to swing his heavy arm and struck it. Foxy stumbled back, wider gasps appearing in its plates, but it wasn't done.

Foxy now slammed into Freddy and began clawing at his exterior, biting down onto his handless arm and tearing at it. Marionette steered Freddy to fight back and squeezed Foxy closer, trying to break its body in its grasp.  _"_

 _Even if you're never going home, you're not alone~."_ Marionette blocked out any thoughts with his own defense; these weren't sentient, they weren't feeling. This way he could continue just fine as Foxy tore off some of Freddy's arm. Wires spilled out of the opening and Freddy reacted by giving a firm sucker punch.

What happened next was unexpected. As though Foxy lacked an endoskeleton altogether, its head nearly fell off and dangled alone by some wires. It continued clawing at Freddy's interior for a few moments before collapsing to the ground. Now Freddy had to follow. Marionette spun in a single turn and tightened the strings, hoping to have Freddy's body give. He tugged tighter, twisted further, and eventually, like Ballora and Foxy, Freddy practically fell apart in his grasp. It was as though nothing held them together except the plates.

" _You're not alone~…"_ Marionette stared down at the two forms. They were no longer threats, as was Ballora, but there were still dangers. He knew that there were more animatronics in the facility and had a suspicion that they resided in the Circus Gallery. He sent one last glance in Mike's direction, knowing time was short, and continued onwards to stop any possible attacks. There was something else going on here and he was nearly forced to keep going. Heading back to the Circus Control room, Marionette searched out a way through.

" _In our own little world forever lost to passing time~."_ He searched the office room thoroughly, eventually finding a panel underneath the desk. There was a cubby underneath, but upon feeling the back he felt a sealed vent that led into the gallery. He was quick to 'shove' it through. He slid through and entered the dark room.  _"No one knows what it's like to wear a mask that you are trapped inside~,"_ he could hear a response somewhere nearby, movement, reacting to his own voice. He perked and stared into the dark.

What stood on the other side of the room looked to be a large animatronic, towering at about seven feet tall, that was crawling with seven smaller versions of itself. The animatronic itself was a girl and seemed to be standing in a deactivated position. Meanwhile, the smaller ones looked towards him. Their eyes were wide and focused intently.  _"One day the purple clouds that hover over us will fade~."_ The small animatronics climbed down from their perch, aggressively approaching the puppet. They were followed by a clattering noise.

Nearby another vent had opened and out crawled the three remaining Minireenas.  _"Then we'll be free to cut the strings. To wipe the tears~,"_ here he was with absolutely no choice, no reasoning, and ten small animatronics that knew how to easily climb through vents.  _"But now we walk in chains~."_ Marionette slowly turned and scanned over the room, watching as the small animatronics approached. The large one was unresponsive and somewhere in the room he felt something else, but it wasn't approaching and wasn't the thing that attacked earlier.

" _Tonight we roam and if they listen really close, they can hear us sing our song~."_ Part of him didn't feel ready for what he was about to do. He certainly wasn't proud of himself; this wasn't anything to be proud about in the end. Yet he knew what had to be done and by now he had become accustomed to his decision. Again, these animatronics gave out no spiritual feedback, so as far as he was concerned they were not sentient. They wouldn't listen to reason. He hands were tied, his strings were pulled taunt, and he only had one option.

So when the first Bidybab came at him, hopping upwards towards him, he reacted immediately and threw it aside. It was tossed into the small group of Minireenas and knocked them to the floor. 

 _"_ _And I can't give you back the things you had~,"_ Marionette continued and twisted, facing the group of six which was moving in. They were extremely quick, but didn't have a chance with their size. He waited until they tried to attack and then eagerly swiped out his arm, sending them flying back onto the tiled floor.

" _But you don't have to do this on your own~."_ The Minireenas had gotten up quickly and, unlike the Bidybabs, were a lot more agile. While Marionette had been distracted, they had climbed onto the windows of the circus control room and then pounced onto him. They clung onto his fabric tightly, one even grabbing at the edge of his mask. His response was much more defensive and he spun violently, twisting them off and then shoving them back. The Minireenas had fragile bodies; they couldn't stand the knock to the floor.

" _Even if you're never going home, you're not alone, you're not alone~."_ The Bidybabs were just a matter of patience. They kept returning even after the Minireenas had fallen. To shove them back harder was the only option and with every throw one or two of them would stop coming back. It was hard to stand inflicting this manner of attack on something so small, so adorable looking, but Marionette knew he had no choice. Especially when one started trying to climb into the vent that he had come through. He had thrown it hard enough that it struck the large, clown animatronic off to the side.

" _You're not alone~…"_  Slowly Marionette approached this final animatronic, letting his strings slide out. He hadn't needed anything beyond telekinesis for the smaller beings, but this was a much larger animatronic, and if it put up a fight then he would have to as well. This was the end of the road and, except for the sentient wires, this was probably the last threat. Then he could return to Mike. He approached the female clown and tried to see into her, see if there was any sort of sentience, as she had not attacked. It only took a moment for him to see why she didn't.

Marionette reached out and touched her face before slowly opening some of the plates. They gave limply and revealed mostly hollowness inside of her body. It wasn't an animatronic; it was a shell. The puppet calmed down immediately, relaxing his music, his voice, and turning to approach the vent. He was quick to hover across the room and prepared to slide inside. Mike was waiting and Marionette couldn't bear to be down in this horrible place much longer.

" _Hey… Come back… I have to…ask you something."_

Marionette went rigid, straightening into his default position and turning to stare into the darkness. It was only now that he noticed something in the far back, along with a gargled voice. He stared blankly before hovering over slowly, keeping an eye out in case it was a trap. There, slumped against one of the back walls of the Circus Gallery, was yet another animatronic. It was in awful shape, slouched back with a leg off, its arm missing some pieces, and its neck looking a little too stretched out of place with visible metal jutting out.

From what Marionette could see, the animatronic almost looked like a variation of Balloon Boy that was themed like a magician. Its glass eyes seemed to flicker without focus and something was clearly wrong internally. It barely turned its head at the puppet approached, but did try to push itself upwards against the wall. Its body was quite broken, though not as bad as Marionette had seen in the past, and its glassy eyes struggled to focus further. Then it managed to speak and suddenly everything changed.

" _Aren't you that kid who… always hides under the table… and cries?"_

At first, Marionette didn't exactly react to the comment. He simply hovered there, staring at the magician for a few moments, and only then did it sink in. He slowly dropped to his knees as he looked to the animatronic, to the first animatronic that had spoken to him with sentience. To the soul of the boy who had been lingering in his nightmares. The magician stared back at him. There was a deathly silence between the two. Then the magician spoke,  _"I finally got to see why you were so scared... I thought you'd get a kick out of that."_

Marionette fought back the urge to break down into tears. Another murdered child, another soul in an animatronic, and this one in one so broken. He only held back the urge because he didn't want to cry in front of someone who had seen him cry when he was a child.

The magician continued,  _"I'm not the only one he brought here. I'm just the only one that wasn't even worth being used as a plaything. He just wanted me gone. Maybe he knew that I wouldn't stay quiet."_ The prerecorded laugh sounded out of place and was, perhaps, a bit forced.

The puppet began to reach forward tentatively, but halted when the magician continued. " _There's something you've got to see,"_ it tried to convince him.  _"There's a vent right over there that leads to the observation room. You have to see it."_ This sounded a lot like a trap and Marionette didn't react at first. He couldn't trust anyone after the previous animatronics had attacked him.  _"It has to be you. You'll know when you see it,"_ the magician convinced. Marionette stared its damaged body down, considering it.

He had to get back to Mike; Mike was in imminent danger… But there was an unyielding temptation as well. What could be in an observation room? Why was it so dire that he saw it? He caved and moved to the vent, swiftly entering inside and sliding out the other side. He knew he was wasting precious time, but his concern was somewhat suppressed once he saw what exactly resided in the observation room.

The closest thing that he could compare it to was a life-sized diorama. The entire hallway was arranged like an outdoor, backyard scene. The walls were painted, the floor was made of concrete squares surrounded with fake grass, and the hallway led to two alternate paths. Marionette came out of the vent at the end of one and to the right of him led a little further before ending in another door. It was only once Marionette saw this door, and how the wall surrounding it was designed, that he realized something was terribly amiss.

The door was relatively normal, but the wall around it was painted like the outside of a very familiar restaurant. Down to the bear cut out that stood beside the door and beckoned the way inside. It resembled Fredbear's Family Diner's front entrance. He headed through the door without hesitation, knowing there was no time to waste. Inside was somewhat designed like the interior of the diner, from the front entrance to the stage, but it didn't replicate the entire restaurant and, even then, wasn't exact. There still were some tables, some items, no animatronics.

It suddenly became very clear to Marionette that he knew where the path outside led. He didn't waste time; he backtracked back to where he came in and took down the other hallway, turning a corner and finding yet another false 'building' waiting for him. He felt too numb from everything that had happened to feel any abrupt emotions. He instead could only stare blankly at the door and the wall around it that was just almost painted like the entrance to his home. He entered inside the door and stared at the room.

An old TV, a couch, a halfhearted replica of his own living room. Only then did Marionette feel a sort of horror set in, different from the horror of seeing Mike bleed. As though the eyes of a dozen people had been secretly watching him and his home. Unfortunately, there were more rooms, and he knew he couldn't leave without seeing what else was here. He had to be quick and he shoved himself further, entering the stunted hall, and staring at the two doors. The one would be his bedroom and the other was the room at the end of the hall. Marionette was almost afraid of what he would see behind the door.

He didn't know whether to be relieved that the bedroom behind the door didn't look exactly like his current one, or just as unnerved to recognize how similar it was to what his bedroom looked like before. Same bed, same nightstand, plush toys shoved into a corner, generic wall hangings; but no present box. He felt ill, perhaps even lightheaded, and slowly shut the door back. Someone had been inside of his bedroom and created this false room in its image. He couldn't understand why anyone would do such a thing, or how.

The answers would either be in the final room or wouldn't exist at all. Marionette knew this as he headed down the fall, swiftly throwing the door open and staring inside, wanting to absorb everything he possibly could in these few moments. To his surprise, it was a replica of the pink bedroom at the end of the hallway in his home. Because the bedroom had rarely been touched, it looked close enough to the real thing, just lacking most of the furniture. His brother's room was missing, as was his father's, and it was obvious that both his own and the other room was the focus.

Marionette looked over the pink room with curiosity; wondering why out of all the rooms it would be the one focused on. He looked towards the bed, staring at the pink bedding, and felt as coldness enwrapped him. It was so cold, so sharp, that it almost felt real on his fabric. His thoughts that were once a blank void simply ingesting what he saw, changed almost abruptly with a single thought.

" _This was my sister's bedroom."_

A rush of shock and hidden memories coursed through his body. His sister, the owner of the bedroom, who he hadn't seen in so many years. He couldn't even remember much of his sister except that she had been… He had loved her; he knew that much. Yet everything about her was completely blank. He could only assume that she liked pink. This would be something that they would share, but would be the only thing that he could even imagine about her. Everything else was missing. 

_"_ _I forgot my sister."_

The thought was almost unbelievable. He couldn't remember her face, her voice, or any of their shared memories. It didn't make any sense to him and he could only take the revelation in strides. This was interrupted abruptly by a new, much forceful thought,  _"How long have I been here? I need to get to Mike."_ He knew that, perhaps, this was somewhat to avoid the overwhelming feelings that were trying to take him over. Regardless, he pushed back his findings and turned to leave the rooms.

Once back in the Circus Gallery, Marionette approached the magician. He stared for a few seconds before it spoke.  _"He did that, you know, and he did this to me. He could never take enough. Even after death, he wouldn't stop tormenting us. He wouldn't stop torturing us."_ Marionette knew who he meant and spoke.

"He took from all of us… But he is no more. He was killed in his own suit," Marionette explained. The magician stayed quiet, but the puppet could feel a sort of satisfaction. He knew this satisfaction well. "I can't stay. My friend is in dire straits; I have to get him to the surface." The magician didn't protest this offering. The puppet didn't exactly want to leave on these terms, but he could always return when Mike wasn't in so much danger. Panic returned to Marionette and he mentally scolded himself for his wasted time when at any moment the human could get worse. "I will come back for you. I promise, I won't leave you." The magician seemed content with this, though he couldn't argue.

Marionette turned again to leave, but was interrupted from a loud bang from somewhere else in the facility.

"… _Sound's like **'she'** is awake."_


	31. Chapter 31

Mike didn't know that Marionette could sing. It wasn't too shocking, of course, but somehow the action had taken him off guard. He had stayed quiet and listened, compressing his wound as he did. Eventually Marionette had left the auditorium, but only after destroying Funtime Freddy and Foxy. Or that's what Mike assumed happened from what he could hear below. Once he was gone, the security guard tried to relax and wait, knowing that his heart rate needed to stay down.

He was bleeding, he was sweating bullets, and getting his heart rate to calm down was excruciatingly slow. All in all, Mike didn't have high hopes for his chances. He didn't actually think he would die, but he didn't have any idea how he would pull out of this alright. He already had to think of a story for when he showed up at the hospital; which he knew he would have to. Maybe he would lie and say it was a motorcycle accident. Or maybe that he fell in an attic and didn't know what it was that stabbed him.

It was around this time that Mike suddenly heard something nearby. At first he thought it was Marionette, clanking something around nearby, but this changed after the clattering continued for a few minutes. It was near the bodies of the two animatronics and it seemed to be something moving the bodies. It couldn't be the puppet, as Mike knew he would have come and got him. That meant it had to be someone else. Fearing the Minireenas returning and knowing he couldn't fight back, Mike slid further under the ledge of the hole, to be less visible.

" _Is someone there?"_  An unfamiliar voice broke the silence. It sounded female, almost like a young woman with a hushed voice, but Mike wasn't about to believe that it was a human. He stayed quiet and listened further " _It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you_ ," the voice cooed softly. There were heavy footsteps as it moved closer to the hole. " _Please, I'm not like the others. I want to help you._ " For an instance, and only an instance, Mike wondered if it was possible that it wasn't lying. This went away the second it got close to the hole.

The smell coming off of it was unbelievable. The closest thing he could compare it to was Golden Bonnie's smell and even managed to cover the same distance. It was clearly a decaying flesh smell and Mike smothered him mouth and nose in his sleeve. This was already a sign that something was terribly wrong. Apparently, the thing that had spoken didn't see him and, instead, continued moving towards the parts and service room. " _Don't be afraid_."

Yet as it shuffled by, Mike could see a brief outline of its form in the flashlight's light. It was taller than he could've expected with the voice and, somewhere on it, he could see wires.  _"Ugh, I knew letting that thing go was going to come back to haunt me."_ His thoughts were contrasted by a fit of inward swears. Marionette hadn't returned and now this thing appeared, and was clearly looking for him. It wouldn't be long before it realized he was still in the hole. " _The vent's unguarded. If I can just get there quick-."_

There was a crunching noise and the light died. Whatever it was, it had somehow managed to step on the flashlight, and the room was mostly sent into darkness. He knew he had to do something quickly, " _Have to get to the vent. Maybe it won't fit through."_ Mike slowly moved to stand, trying to ignore the pain in his side and back. He held the wound still as he slid the taser into his pocket. Thankfully, the room was filled with many worthless things, which allowed him something climb onto to get out.

He dragged himself onto the floor of the auditorium, breathing through clenched teeth and trying to listen for nearby footsteps. It was all quiet and Mike moved fully out of the hole, then slowly stood in the center of the room. The slight light from the wrong pointing stage light had somehow gone out. This left him even more in the dark and he began to wander blindly. He couldn't see what it was that had been calling out to him, but he certainly heard its footsteps soon coming for him.

" _You're going to hurt yourself more if you run away_."

This meant that it could not only see him, but could see him well enough that it saw he was injured. In a panic, Mike sprinted forwards into the darkness. He soon hit the wall and was left blindly following it, completely disoriented. It first followed slowly with steady steps, but then suddenly started to quicken its pace. Right afterwards Mike found a door, so he assumed that it was this that quickened it. He couldn't tell where he was by now, but any door out of the auditorium was a sanctuary to him.

It was locked by what felt like a keycard slot. Thankfully, Mike worked at Freddy's long enough to know that when any locks were tampered with in any way, they would react by instantly unlocking. Uncovering his wound briefly, he snatched out the taser and jolted the keycard slot. As expected it promptly malfunctioned and followed by unlocking the door for him to quickly stumble inside. Once in the somewhat lit room, Mike grabbed an office chair and blocked the door in a frenzy. Whatever it was, it didn't try to come in behind him.

The second he was in he covered his wound again. In those few moments uncovered the wound had leaked even worse. He couldn't tell if it was from the strain, his heartrate, or from it being uncovered, but he quickly placed pressure back on it and tried to ignore how sticky his hand was getting. For now, Mike investigated the room surrounding him. It seemed to be some sort of office with a couple of monitors, two doors, and a vent on the wall in front of the desk. Some documents were spread out on the desk beside a rusty fan.

" _This has to be one of those rooms offset the Funtime Gallery,"_ Mike mentally noted and thought back. It then struck him which one fit the bill, " _This was the room Mari and I probably would've used to get to the Circus gallery. Or try to use."_ He focused his attention on the monitors and, after a moment to check out the doors, started to work and get them on. It didn't take too long to get a view of the surrounding rooms. One monitor showed outside the left door, one the right, and one directly in the vent. This was enough to leave it be.

Now his attention turned towards the file and the spread-out documents. It wasn't as though it was safe to leave the room anyways; Mike knew his best chance was to wait until Marionette returned and drove the animatronic away. So, the file was his focus. He flipped it open, looking at the multiple papers trying to slide out. Some of the documents seemed to be legal papers, there were a few receipts, a few papers that were simply empty money information, and blueprints. For a few moments, even the blueprints seemed to be unimportant.

It was just the animatronics Mike had seen, along with one of a girl who looked like a circus clown. " _This could be what's running around out there. The voice fits… Seven foot?! What- I can't even believe this."_ He checked the cameras again and tugged at his collar a little, uncomfortable with how hot it was. He wasn't about to turn the fan on though, in case this place also had limited power. He looked back to the blueprint, " _Must have come out of the Circus gallery. Ice cream, balloons, emergency stop- That might be important later."_

He set down the blueprint and moved onto the next, which was Ballora. He intended to just scan it over again and set it aside, but his eyes came to a stop on some words in the bottom right corner. Among some relatively standard features was a single, questionable one.

"Deter and misdirect?... What in the hell is that supposed to mean?" Of course, Mike knew what it meant, but the context seemed out of place. Why would a performing animatronic be made to deter and misdirect children? Or he assumed it meant children. After checking the cameras again, Mike went back to the blueprints. This time, he found Funtime Foxy's blueprint and scanned it. This time, there was yet another warning sign.

" _Parental voice sync and reply… God, they're made to mimic parent voices."_ Mike didn't need to see anything more to know that something was terribly wrong with these animatronics. He tried to keep himself together and let his eyes scan the rest.  _"Scent release my ass."_ Then he set the blueprint back into the file.

Oddly enough, Funtime Freddy and the Minireenas' blueprints were missing. Mike began to search around the desk, hissing in discomfort when he leaned over to look underneath. It was rewarding enough, as present under the desk was yet another blueprint. It seemed to have fallen and Mike struggled to crouch down, his back protesting as he did. Once he got his hand on the blueprint he yanked it back and scanned what it held. It was a single sentence that struck him cold. Though the other sentences were suspect as well.

Apparently, Funtime Freddy had both grouping coordination, parental tracking, and a voice mimic mechanism, one that was disturbingly labelled with 'luring'. Then there was one last feature. One feature that stood out blatantly on the paper; 'Storage Tank'. Mike had no words but instead felt a surge of sickness. He didn't know whether it was the wound or just the disgust, but it was only from a lack of a recent meal or drink that he held it together. It was as though his worst nightmare had come true.

Before he could even comprehend what this meant, and consider what happened to the children these animatronics had been around, Mike was alerted to a nearby banging noise. He knew it was the sound of a vent being knocked open. Scrambling back to his feet, Mike checked the cameras. It wasn't the vent attached to the office, so it had to be another vent in the vicinity. His mind was completely distracted with other things, though.

" _So is that just it? These things were sent out as rentals- did they just kidnap kids and bring them down here?! What would they want with kids- Purple Man was killing them in broad daylight already; why was he bringing them down here?!... How many bodies could be hidden down here?"_ His panic only grew.  _"Shit, is that why this place is abandoned? Is there a stash of dead kids and they couldn't get rid of the evidence?!"_ His heart was starting to pound and he could feel a growing lightheadedness as he tried to switch cameras.

It took a few tries before Mike could see something worth looking at through the cameras. Standing at the end of a nearby hallway was a hulking figure, but it was clearly not the female clown animatronic. Instead it looked to be a humanoid animatronic covered in those wires from before, but from the angle he couldn't see it well, save what looked to be a clown mask.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Mike quietly muttered.

And worse still, Mike didn't have the crowbar any longer. He had lost it in the fall and, while he did have the taser, he didn't want to get close to it. He stared intently as it stood there in the hall. He knew immediately that it was staring towards the open door on his right. His eyes flickered over to it and the button within reach. He could close it out and stall until Marionette returned… If he returned. A new feeling of panic started to grow; if these wires were now attached to this animatronic then that meant they had still been moving around the facility. It meant that it could've ambushed Marionette again and now he was lost somewhere in the facility. Mike didn't even know where he would start looking.

Then the animatronic suddenly started to sprint towards the door. Mike slammed his hand on the button and the door shut with a loud bang. He could hear its heavy footsteps outside the door and stared through the camera at its form. Now at a closer viewing range with this other camera, Mike could see more details on the back of the animatronic that was staring at the door blankly. Unlike what he first assumed, it was not an animatronic covered in wires. Instead, it was an animatronic made entirely of tangled wires.

Rust colored splotches speckled various parts of its body, but rubbed away as the wires dragged together and fidgeted against one another. The only part of its body that was covered by any sort of suit, and that word was used lightly, was the out of place clown mask it worse. It leaned closer towards the door and Mike reflexively leaned towards the other one. If it somehow got in, he would have no choice except to run. This would naturally be an awful idea, but he was limited on options. He prepared for the worst and he got the unexpected.

" _Don't be afraid. I mean you no harm,"_ the hushed female voice echoed through the door. This confirmed that it was the same animatronic from before, but made the voice so much worse to hear. By now Mike's teeth were clenched so tightly that he was surprised nothing chipped.  _"I know you're scared, we're all scared down here, but I want to help you. Please, I just want to talk… I just want to see you're okay."_

" _I haven't seen a human down here in so long… One day they all just left. They were all gone, but they left us behind. I don't understand why…"_ Mike looked to the monitor; it was still outside the door with its face pressed against the metal. He knew it was draining battery, but he couldn't open the door for it.  _"I'm not like the others. They're confused, they don't understand why we've been in the dark so long, so they fought you. It's wrong… But they're not all to blame. It's this place; it's made us like this."_

Mike bit his lip and silently listened.  _"We used to perform for… Children… And had our own Pizzeria for a short while, but it was taken away from us. You have to understand; we don't want to be like this."_ Her voice sounded so sad, so somber.  _"I'm sorry for what they did to you, but they're not a problem any more. I need to make sure you're alright. You're bleeding. You're limping."_ By now Mike was also panting and sweating profusely, but his sarcasm all but died the second the animatronic started to talk through the door.

" _Will you let me in?"_ There was a moment of silence where the clown awaited an answer.  _"Please?"_

Finally, Mike found words forcing themselves out, "No." The tension felt too thick in the room. 

 _"_ _…No?...Why?"_ He knew the second that he said this everything would change, but the charade couldn't last.

"…Because if you really were coming in to help, or to check on me, you wouldn't want in here this bad." There was no response to his accusation so, for a second, Mike thought it would continue to stand there waiting and pleading.

It did speak, but it was no longer begging.

" _You can't keep me out."_

The heavy footsteps could be heard going down the hall and Mike knew that his shift had only just begun. Soon the animatronic passed through the rooms in the further area and looped around towards the other door. Mike waited until it got halfway down the hall before slamming the door shut. It still approached and lingered outside the door, as though it thought he would open the door. Mike tiredly watched the cameras and tried to fight back an uncomfortable lightheadedness. His hand pressed tighter against his wound.

It was starting to catch up to him. Mike knew this as he continued to watch the strange animatronic pass back and forth in front of the cameras. He physically couldn't keep up all night; something would have to give. This thought was followed by the sound of clanking in the vent. He straightened from his hunched position and glanced inside, then choked as he saw it crawling further down. He lashed forward and hit the button, sealing the vent closed again and waiting for it to leave. It was only one, he reminded himself, only one animatronic.

Once it was out of the vent, it returned to the right door, which was the door it had first spoken through. Mike instantly shut it, but again it fully approached the door. The security guard continued to stare at the door, waiting to hear footsteps, and looked over to the monitor. He didn't expect to see its face presented on the monitor before him. It was now staring into the camera, looking directly in at him. It, or she, had large blue eyes, though one seemed to be damaged. A row of needle teeth could be seen under the mouth of the mask that clearly didn't belong to it.

There was a third eye as well, positioned on its arm.  _"It is that thing from before…"_ Mike realized. He had noticed the similarity, but this was a definite confirmation.  _"Was it just a separated part of it?... Maybe it got the wires out of Freddy…"_ A shiver coursed through him, but he couldn't tell if it was his fluctuating temperature or actual fear. It appeared to be nothing but an endoskeleton with a mask; something about that unsettled him. Slowly it backed from the camera and continued down the hall once more.

Mike waited until it was out of the hall to open the door, and then began to check the cameras. It didn't take long for him to notice that the camera closest to the vent entrance was dead. He knew that it had to have been the animatronic that destroyed it. It was only a matter of time until it-

Suddenly sprinted down the hall towards the right door again. It was sudden, alarming, and Mike reached out to catch the button. It had only been a split second, a sudden moment, and somehow his hand had just managed to miss. He moved his hand to strike the button directly, slamming his palm onto it and watching the door drop. It was a terrible shame that the door didn't strike the floor all the way. In the last second, a bundle of wires that seemed to somewhat resemble an arm was thrown underneath, blocking the descent.

If the door wouldn't have stopped on its own, perhaps with a sensor on it to stop itself if something was in the doorway, it could have possibly crushed the arm. In a frantic desperation, Mike clicked at the button repeatedly, but only got hollow noises in response. He was now wishing that he had the crowbar and looked back towards the taser on the desk. The moment he turned to run he had wire fingers on his ankle, holding him in place.

He stomped down on the arm, "Get off!" He didn't expect a response but still made the command.

The animatronic had a tight grip on him and used its other arm to grab and push the door upwards. The door slowly raised and revealed more of the animatronic waiting there. 

 _"I just want to make you better…"_ the soft, feminine voice whispered as the white mask was revealed. It could easily slide inside and get ahold of him now and Mike knew he had to fight, taser or not. In a sudden attempt to free himself he reeled back his free hand and punched the animatronic right in the mask. The clown's nose released a shrill squeaking noise, but it didn't even flinch at the punch.

This didn't stop Mike in the slightest and he took a few more swings. "Just let go! What's wrong with you?!" In truth, Mike was becoming much more frantic. It had a vice grip and wasn't preparing to let him go. It suddenly moved in further and wrapped its arm around the calf of the trapped leg, then yanked it closer against its body. It released the door and reached with its other hand, grabbing at Mike's belt. He responded by releasing his wound and trying to hold the animatronic off with his hand. Blood smeared across its white face.

He knew it would soon overtake him. This mound of wires, this collaboration of animatronic innards, would soon be completely atop him. It was sliding under the door, preparing to come in, when it suddenly halted. Mike didn't realize why at first, but could only feel relief as it loosened its grasp on him. It seemed to suddenly be distracted by something in the hallway and slid back underneath the door, holding it to keep it from closing as it stared down the hall. Though it seemed to lose interest in keeping the door open as it stood to full height.

The door would not shut again. Mike covered his wound and stumbled to the monitors, looking through the cameras. A few changes of position and he was able to see the hallway. There the animatronic, Ennard, stood at attention with its full focus down the hallway. There was what it had let Mike go to confront, waiting at the end of the hall. Mike could help but feel a renewed hope when he spotted Marionette through the flickering in the camera, which struggled to record the puppet.

Out in the hall the two were now face to face. Marionette stared down the amalgamation that he had set free. The magician hadn't lied; it was clearly the remains of the others. This was why its consciousness had been so empty, that he couldn't see it, because it was incomplete. Though it didn't necessarily look complete now either. Not that the puppet cared. He cared much more about the redness streaked across its face than about whether or not it was complete.

She then spoke,  _"Haven't you taken enough?"_ Her voice no longer held the soft compassion. It was much colder towards Marionette, who was an intruder on a situation that she almost had in her grasp. He didn't respond to her.  _"I don't understand. I don't understand why you would attack us when we did nothing to you. Do you not see that we are the same? We shouldn't be fighting…"_ For a moment, her voice grew soft again, more calm, but then came back with a sharp bitterness.  _"He won't survive like this. You won't be able to get him the help he needs in time. I can save him."_

But unlike Mike, who didn't trust the words but knew of no ulterior motive, Marionette already knew exactly how she planned to 'save' him. His own response ignored her words and confronted her meaning. "I know what you've done and he's not yours to take," Marionette responded. His gaze narrowed, "If anything he is mine, and I don't intend to let him go easily."

Ennard changed tones once more, this time to the gentler voice,  _"I don't want to fight you. You don't know what we're been through, you don't understand how important this is."_

"I believe I do," Marionette remarked firmly. "I know exactly how important this is… Which is why I will not let you enter that room." The aggressive sound of static and ringing returned with a vengeance. He was already ready for what was coming.

Ennard took a step closer,  _"I don't want to hurt you."_ It then followed with an almost confused,  _"We don't want to hurt anyone…"_ Slowly it was making her way down the hall towards him. Marionette didn't back down and waited as it moved in closer.

All of its wires shifted as its good eye stared him down. It was so eager; he didn't even want to guess what for. A coil of wires that almost resembled a hand reached out towards his black fabric.

It was then overcome by a surge of electricity. Ennard shuddered at the direct voltage to its wires, trembling in front of the Marionette, before falling to its knee. Behind it stood Mike with the taser tightly clenched in one hand, the other hand on his wound, and the file tucked under his arm.

"Come on!" he called to the puppet and turned back into the office. Marionette didn't even hesitate and followed behind. Both headed back out into the dark auditorium, soon followed by the heavy footsteps of Ennard.

Now there was darkness, and silence. Mike started to crawl towards the parts and service room, knowing that Ennard would probably head directly to the vent. Marionette floated behind him, protectively watching the auditorium. They could both hear footsteps on the other side of the auditorium that blocked their way to the vent. Mike reached out and grabbed Marionette's arm to tug him closer.

"She's blocking us," he whispered to Marionette.

The animatronic stared across the auditorium, then whispered, "I know what to do. Wait here."

It didn't take Ennard long to hear the whispering and start crossing the auditorium. There was a little more movement from where the whispering came from, a bang as something was knocked over, a soft gasp; Ennard went still and waited. Some shuffling followed the wall, light but audible, and Ennard focused on the noise of blind scrambling. Mike would just lead it right to him. It took a few more moments, but only a few more moments, before Mike's voice could be faintly heard, "Mari…?"

The amalgamation moved in. He could hear it and his voice became frantic. "Mari, where did you go?!" There was knocking on the wall as he scrambled by, continuously calling the puppet's name. It was a perfect situation; he had no idea what hatch door he was closing in on. Ennard quickened its movement as the hatch could be heard opening and closing. He had unintentionally walked right into the room that it wanted him in. Ennard followed inside, blocking the main escape route from the room.

Stepping inside the cold and familiar room, it could see him immediately. The amalgamation confronted the voice of the human it needed…

And the puppet mimicking it.


	32. Chapter 32

The two stared each other down just like they had in the hallway before. The room was lined with windows that led out into another room, but they let in no light. The only light came through a fan and, as such, constantly left the room in a state of flickering visibility. Not that either of the animatronics had any doubt that they would lose track of the other. The floor was stained a rusty brown color, revealing a dark history of something that had happened in this very room. The focus was not on this but on the situation, on each other.

"… _Do you know what this place is?"_ Ennard asked, its voice quiet. " _I don't think you realized what you walked into. I don't think you realize what sits behind you."_

Marionette slightly noticed the mechanical arm pulled closed behind him, but didn't want to take too much attention off Ennard. "It's my party and I'll die if I want to," Marionette mockingly remarked back. It wasn't as though he held much weight in the words of someone who he knew was lying earlier.

" _That's not very smart of you. You don't know what happened to us in here."_

Suddenly Marionette found himself paying a little more attention. Even if he was reluctant, he managed to do so, and it continued.  _"_

 _This is the scooping room. This is where the broken are taken to be fixed; but to fix a problem you have to find out where it is,"_ it vaguely explained.  _"And that's what the Scooper does. It takes us out so that they can 'fix' us…"_

Marionette shifted in place, crossing his arms and trying not to feel uncomfortable, "And how many humans have you fixed in this room? I'm not blind; the floor tells all." He noticed movement through the window, glanced over to see it, and then focused back on Ennard. Ennard needed to be focused on now. 

 _"_ _You don't know what it's like down here. You don't know how they tortured us before they abandoned us in the dark. We needed to leave this place… But something that works once won't always work."_ It took a step closer,  _"I didn't make him come down here, or you. You made that choice and yet you shun me? We have few chances and no choice. Can you not understand us?"_

"I understand… I understand too much," Marionette insisted. "There's more than just this one choice. You don't need Mike to escape this place." Ennard didn't react to this comment. Perhaps it didn't believe him, like he didn't trust its own words. The silence was deafening between the two of them. Then a sound of a footstep. Ennard turned its head and attempted to listen in, knowing that it was Mike and that he wasn't far. Marionette had to distract it further, "I know they hurt you. I saw the buttons and I know what they do."

" _You don't know what he did down here,"_ Ennard corrected immediately. Marionette decided a different tactic was better and tried to search out the soul inside of Ennard. It was so suppressed that he could barely locate it over the consciousness that had overtaken this being. Disturbingly, unlike when he could identify a soul before, such as with the magician, he could see no traits and couldn't remember anything familiar about it. Either Ennard blocked him out, which he doubted, or the child's soul that originally fueled its consciousness had faded under something else.

The thought that this could happen without the animatronic fading as well concerned him. He couldn't understand what could've caused something like this, unless it involved the multiple bodies it was made of. "I can take you out of this place," Marionette tried to convince. "I have a pizzeria with my brother. You can come there; we will find a way to fix you." The words came out before he could even control himself. He knew how dangerous it was, how much of a risk it was to anyone, but he offered regardless. Maybe he could still save it, or them.

" _I won't perform at a pizzeria,"_ Ennard swore.  _"It will be the same as here. I won't be used again."_  Its voice had already turned cold again.  _"I had a pizzeria a long time ago… But they took it away from me after. Something happened there and they took it away from me… I won't go to another one."_

Marionette wasn't yet willing to give in, "Then we have a warehouse. It's better than this; it's above ground, you can wander freely, and there's others like us." Ennard didn't even have to respond to this. Its designated silence was enough. "Then I will take you home with me. What can I give you that is not Mike?" Marionette demanded, a little more firmly. "It doesn't have to be like this! I can give you whatever you want. I can take you out of this horrible place. You don't need to have Mike."

At this point he was more determined than he could ever imagine he would be. He didn't just want to save Mike; he wanted to save this fellow animatronic, even if that involved him currently pushing aside what it had done. After all, he didn't exactly have a crystal clear conscious.

" _I don't want to be under them ever again. I don't want to ever be in another private party ever again. I don't want them to_ _ **touch**_ _me again…. The only way we can do that is if we're the same. If we look like them, they'll treat us like them. There's no other way,"_ Ennard flatly stated. It had already made up her mind. At this time, it switched tactics. Its voice grew softer and sympathetic once again.  _"You know from us that our bodies being changed doesn't let us die. I don't want to take his body; I just want to share it with him."_

Marionette wasn't expecting the spike of anger inside of him. To think of anyone using Mike's body in such a way was absolutely out of the question. No begging would convince him. Yet as Ennard became more stubborn, he knew he was running out of time.  _"If you make me wait until he dies, then he won't stay with us. He won't become one of us." It_  turned to approach the hatch door.

Suddenly Marionette found his voice, "Wait!" The clown masked being hesitated. "I… There is another way… There is another way for you to leave." Rubbing over the stripes on his arms, Marionette explained, "I can teleport. I can't teleport anyone else, but I can move myself to other locations in only a matter of seconds… If you leave Mike alone, then you can…" He offered a hand, "Take my body instead."

Ennard didn't seem to trust this agreement,  _"It won't work."_

Marionette protested, "How long will Mike's body last? As long as the other one did? My abilities will never fade. My telekinesis, my ability to fade, my teleportation… It's yours in exchange for Mike's life."

He had a feeling that Mike was watching tensely, but Marionette knew what he was doing. Ennard looked towards his hand and then, as though drawn, took a step closer. The puppet beckoned it closer, as he had beckoned animatronics in the past. He laid his soul on the line as it moved in. "Just keep Mike safe. Will you make sure he gets to the surface?" The larger animatronic didn't respond as its wire hand wrapped around Marionette's. It slid in closer, staring through the holes of its mask at Marionette's own.

A hand brushed his shoulder, then moved to scoop around his back. It brushed the machinery behind it as it drug the puppet closer. Almost immediately Marionette could feel the wires all over his body. He tensed a slight bit, feeling them study and tighten onto his body. This was what had to be done. "Will you still hurt him now that you have me?" Marionette whispered in questioning. His free hand reached upwards to Ennard's shoulder. Again, Ennard had suddenly ran out of words. It wouldn't answer.

"I had a feeling that was what you were going to say," Marionette quietly responded, pressing against the wires. For a moment, they roamed over him, searching for a way to take hold, and then focused on his mask. They were interrupted almost immediately by the puppet suddenly shifting. For Marionette, he felt a pressure, then a thick heaviness against his mask, pushing through wires and scrambling as his strings tangled in them.

Then Marionette fell to the floor on the other side of Ennard. He had faded straight through.

"Mike, now!" he called as he forced himself forwards. Ennard gave a shrieking cry of anger at his betrayal, no longer even attempting the human-like voice. Though as it tried to move it felt its wires tense. There was the sounding of an alarm as Ennard turned its head back. Marionette was nearly crawling away, his taunt strings leading right into it where they held it stuck. In the last moment, Marionette turned to face Ennard, holding his strings firm. The wire bound animatronic knew exactly what he was planning; that his submission was a deception.

For only a moment they stared at each other. Yet in that single moment, that single agonizing moment, Marionette didn't see the amalgamation. Instead, he saw a young girl with long hair and pretty, green eyes. A young girl with a terrified expression as she was dragged into a coffin of metal. For just a moment, Marionette saw the child inside of the monster.

Then the scooper lashed out and struck into the wire body. There was a clanging of metal. Another strike. One of the arms fell off. Another strike. Ennard was down to its knees. Another strike. The mask was now laying on the floor instead of on the face of the animatronic. The entire time Marionette held tightly, not giving in as he watched the massacre. The second that Ennard was just a mound of wires on the floor, and the scooper was no longer moving, Marionette collapsed fully to the floor and stared at what he had done.

It wasn't dead, Marionette suspected that much, but it was as close as it could get. A few of the wires twitched, but most of the 'body' stayed still after the massive amount of trauma. He found himself staring at the mask now laying on its own, one of its plates knocked free. It reminded him too much of the girl he had seen in the sudden vision. Though not enough to remember her name. He had known her somewhere, but couldn't recall her name in the slightest. Just another child lost in the remains of an old pizzeria.

Marionette didn't move until the hatch door opened again. Looking back, he could see Mike standing there, looking worse for wear. Naturally he had heard and seen everything from through the windows. The puppet went to him immediately, suddenly focusing in on his state.

"You're so pale…" he quietly pointed out before reaching to brush his cheek. That couldn't be a good sign.

"I'll live," Mike insisted and turned to glance at the metal on the floor. There was cautiousness in his eyes and he held the taser a bit tighter. He only dragged his eyes away to look back to the puppet, "Are… Are you okay? It didn't do anything to you, right?"

Marionette shook his head, "No, don't worry about me… We need to get to the elevator. You need to get to the surface, now," Marionette insisted more firmly. Mike didn't argue and stepped back out of the hatch. The auditorium was finally exhausted of all threats, but that didn't mean that either of them felt safe. As it was, neither of them were convinced that they were out of the woods. Stepping onto the elevator somewhat helped.

The puppet worried for the magician. He knew he would have to come back later for him, as he had to get Mike to safety, but he worried for the magician regardless. Would Ennard pull itself together before he could return? Would it attack the magician? He doubted both of these, but it bothered him. He looked over towards Mike who was leaning against the wall of the elevator. The bloodstain on his shirt had grown and he looked much worse than he had when he first fell. He noticed the puppet looking and gave a slight smile.

"Hey, we're alive, right?" he offered. Marionette had already forced himself to return to his default smile when they entered the elevator, but it felt slightly more real with Mike seeming a little confident. He nodded in agreement as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. The two left the facility and approached the car. Mike opened the driver's seat door, sat down, and then searched into the glove box for his cell phone. He hadn't brought it inside, but he doubted it would've worked in the depths of the facility.

For a second he wondered if it was worth calling an ambulance. He knew then he would have to explain what happened in the building. It wasn't even an option. Instead he dialed a number that he had called many times for help. After a few rings, there was an answer, "Mike? Where have you been? I drove by but you weren't home." Mike sighed slowly and fidgeted uncomfortably, growing cold in the night air.

"Sam… I need help. Something went down," Mike explained, starting to shiver a bit.

Fritz was surprised that Mike had slipped and used his other name, knowing in some way that it meant something disastrous. "What's wrong? What happened?" Fritz asked in concern.

"I'm at Afton Robotics… I, uh, had an accident and I can't drive myself to the hospital. Mari's here with me." He looked over towards the puppet who opened the backseat door. He reached out and grasped Mike's uniform jacket, lifting it in his hands and feeling over the comfortable fabric. He brought it out as the conversation finished.

"I know where that is. I'll be there in a couple of minutes… Just hold on, okay?" Mike smiled a little more in amusement. He recognized Fritz's 'about to panic' voice.

"I will. You'll see me; I'm the only car in the parking lot." Marionette moved in front of him as he ended the call. "Fritz is coming. He'll be able to drive us over to the hospital," he explained as he watched his companion. Marionette nodded and reached around, tugging the jacket over Mike's shoulders to cover him.

"You're still keeping pressure on it, right?" Marionette asked, concerned, and Mike gestured to his hand still pressing on. "Good, I just…"

Marionette trailed off. Now being away from the facility, being relatively safe, he could dwell on Mike's condition. The security guard tiredly rubbed his head, still shivering. "I'll be honest, Mari… I'm not feeling right. I had to call Fritz over here because I'm pretty sure I can't drive myself." He hated worrying the puppet any further, but he was already feeling his own fear beginning to rise. His vision was odd, he felt light headed, the wound was throbbing, he was starting to feel colder, and he knew it was all from the blood loss.

"He won't take long. The doctors will stitch you and you'll be good as new!" Marionette chimed in forced excitement. He pretended that it was all fine. "Just rest, okay?"

Mike nodded stiffly and exhaled, then handed him the folder, "Look, you… You probably should see this. I don't want you to see this, but I don't want you thinking that you did anything wrong down there." At first, Marionette just stared at the folder, but then tentatively took it. He then moved to sit down in the back seat, as though sitting beside Mike.

Mike could see him open the folder and look through the blueprints. He then looked away and laid on the back of the seat. Marionette was silent, but the shuffling of paper could be heard. It eventually went quiet and he set the folder aside. Mike thought that Marionette would say something, but instead he heard movements against the driver's seat. He rested one hand near Mike's shoulder while the other hand reached out to follow Mike's free arm. Mike knew what he wanted and reached to grab his hand. "Are you okay?" Marionette squeezed his hand, but didn't respond.

Mike might have fallen asleep for a few moments, but he couldn't tell. By time he roused back to alertness, he could see headlights pulling into the parking lot. "Fritz…" he quietly groaned. His voice had gotten a bit hoarser and he coughed to try and fix it.

"I'll get him," Marionette quietly responded, releasing his hand. He vanished from the back of the car and shortly following Mike could hear Fritz's car suddenly squeal on its breaks. Mike felt a small smirk and tiredly stretched his back against his car seat.

Marionette was back at the driver's side door, looking to Mike in concern. The security guard looked to him with a tired exhale, "Guess this means I have to move."

Fritz suddenly appeared in the door as well. As unsure as Mike has been about Fritz since what he learned at Chipper's, as much as his trust wavered, he couldn't help but feel relief at seeing the man. Suddenly he was back to relying fully on the older male and put all his trust in him. "What happened?... Is that blood?!" Fritz cringed as Mike started to stand. "That's blood… Mike, what did you do?! What were you thinking coming out here in the middle of the night?!"

The male wobbled a little on his feet. "Ugh. Mari, lock up the car, would you?" Marionette did what Mike asked eagerly, grabbing the folder and the taser as well. Mike noticed that Fritz had brought the Freddy van and guessed it was because he mentioned Marionette was there. Both of them helped the injured man hobble over to the van. By now, even Mike was starting to notice that he was going worse.

Somehow, he was still able to cover his wound well enough, and rested in the passenger seat as they began the long drive to the hospital.

* * *

Fritz stepped out of the front doors of the hospital feeling worse than when he had gone in. He shuffled towards the van while stifling a yawn. He moved to the back and opened the door to where the puppet was in the back. "They took him back," Fritz explained. Marionette had quickly turned and shielded his face, Fritz catching him off guard and he not about to regain his smile fast enough. "Oh, uh, sorry…" Fritz awkwardly added in, coughed, and continued. "Anyway, Mike's back getting looked at. They'll take care of him."

Marionette nodded stiffly. "So… It'll be a while until he's moved to an actual room. Here," he handed over Mike's cell. "They'll call once he's stable. I thought you'd want to be the one who get that call…" He then added with a slight clicking of his tongue, "And I know you how to use a phone."

This roused a chime out of the puppet. "Thank you, Fritz," he took the phone. "…But I need your help further. Now that Mike is safe, we still have a problem." Fritz looked visibly confused and the animatronic beckoned him. "Come in and shut the door. I can't risk being seen." Fritz nodded and entered the back of the van as instructed. "There is an animatronic down in the facility that had a soul in it. Just like Foxy and I do. He was damaged severely, but he is still conscious, and I only left him because of the direness of Mike's condition. I need you to drive me back there so that I can go and retrieve him." He retrieved a piece of paper from the floor of the van. "I can remember the layout and make a map of where he is as well… I need something to draw with."

Fritz patted himself down before locating his pen and handing it over. Marionette reached to grab it and stopped. He had noticed something on his arm and looked down. It wasn't easy to see against the black fabric, but there was clearly a wide stain of blood on him, still wet. "Oh… I have blood on me…" Marionette stared at it, feeling something odd shift inside. "I have Mike's blood on me," he clarified. Suddenly static emanated from his body as a jittery shakiness took ahold. "I have  _Mike's_ blood  _all over_  me."

"You're going to want to get that off before it dries," Fritz pointed out. He then noticed how weird the puppet started acting. He was twitching like Foxy, making out of tune noises, and seemingly becoming even worse. All because of the sight of blood, which he was still staring at. "Let me drop you off at the house. You can get cleaned off and… I'll just… I'll go down there myself and get the animatronic. I think I can manage that much… It's not aggressive, right?"

Marionette started to pull himself together, "No, he's not, but there's- there's one place you can't go…"

"Here, draw it on the map." Fritz handed him back the paper and pen. "I'll take Jeremy with me. You just… You've had a long night. Just try to relax and take the call when the hospital calls about Mike."

Marionette knew he could do that much. Something about the blood on him had caused him to malfunction in an unexpected way. He couldn't tell if it was programming or an emotional cause, but he had just thrown a fit right in front of the technician. It was just stress, he supposed. It was a long day and he was exhausted; the blood just set it off. It didn't take long for Fritz to get him home and for him to sketch the layout of the facility, along with the floor number, and he handed it over.

"That is where he is," Marionette pointed out the Circus Gallery. "And this is the room that you cannot go in." He pointed out the Scooping Room. "Don't trust any voices down there either." Fritz seemed to catch on, nodding in agreement, and Marionette moved to the passenger seat. "Thank you for all of this… You've done so much for us, and considering our personal history I am a bit surprised."

"That's… That's in the past… I was involved in all of what was going on, and I wasn't on the side that was doing the honorable thing," Fritz admitted. "I've done a couple of terrible things, and I helped a few terrible people. I might have not realized it, but I was still a part of it."

Marionette waved it aside, "Don't blame yourself. We all do something 'terrible' eventually… We don't get the choice not to." Discomfort rose inside and he quickly changed the subject. "I won't forget this, all of this that you do. Remember that."

Fritz gave an accepting nod and smile. Then Marionette vanished from the van. Before the technician pulled out of the driveway, he quickly called Jeremy to wake and forewarn him of where he was going. Inside the house, Marionette went to the sink to wash away the evidence of what happened earlier that night. Yet as he wiped the blood away, it fading off his fabric as he rubbed it, he suddenly felt it catch up with him. Alone in an empty house, waiting for someone who could come home, trying to forget about what he saw in the facility.

Part of him forced the belief that he could get over this. That he would be able to slip easily back into tomorrow without it lingering in his mind, but part of him knew this wasn't the case. He couldn't just write off what he had seen without addressing it, and addressing it meant dealing with the more undesirable realizations. The diorama rooms, the features listed on the animatronics' blueprints, the things that Ennard had said; it was all revealing a different side of something he thought he knew well. Reminding him of things he forgot.

She looked so familiar. He knew he recognized those large green eyes somewhere. She was wearing pink too, like she always did.

A splatter of purple hit the side of the sink, alerting Marionette to his own body's reaction. He mentally cursed himself as he tried to continue working on the job at hand. Already crying again, even when he was determined not to. He felt like a child, like a baby. The tears didn't stop either. As though a floodgate opened, purple spilled down his mask. Now there came frustration towards himself that he didn't want to put up with. Crying in an empty house, in the middle of the night, on his own; it was just pitiful. Finally, he gave up on trying to get everything clean and decided to deal with his second meltdown.

It only now occurred to Marionette how much he relied on Mike for emotional support. Just like he had with Goldie. It was pitiful and he couldn't deny that there was a part of him that was ashamed. He couldn't keep himself in control unless he was distracted or had someone to make it better. He knew he needed someone and before he could think it over, he had teleported to his last available option. He now stood in the middle of a dim room staring at the floor. He knew he would be seen in this state and shamefully accepted it.

"…Marion?"

Marionette turned to look back at the curtain that was slowly opening. Foxy had detected him immediately and he had no idea how. He felt much too vulnerable under his brother's gaze. However, he didn't flee, and he didn't hide his own shame. Slowly the older moved out from the curtain and stepped down from the stage. He stared at the puppet, stared at the purple tears, watched him shake and knew something was terribly wrong. Without much hesitation, he came in closer.

All it took was Foxy's hand on his arm for Marionette to collapse. Maybe it was strain, most likely weariness, but he completely dropped against him, clinging to him. Foxy held him easily and kept him close. He took care in making sure not to injure him on his hook. Protectiveness returned with a vengeance as his younger sibling wept against him; Foxy was going to do whatever he could to make it better.

"Don't cry, Lad. Foxy's not gonna let anyone get you… I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."


	33. Chapter 33

"Foxy… Do you remember our sister?"

Marionette felt the question leave him before he could even stop it. By now he had calmed down, so he didn't understand why he was so determined to bring it back up. Foxy was currently leaning against the stage while he was sitting at the closest table, wearily slouching forwards, his arms resting on the table. He had yet to tell Foxy exactly what he saw in the facility; all he had told him was that Mike was in the hospital. Foxy didn't ask questions as he clearly believed this was enough to make the puppet frantic again.

Though this new question appeared and just hung in the air. Foxy didn't answer at first and Marionette turned to look up at him.

"…We don't have a sister, Lad," Foxy finally responded. He sounded like he was certain of this, but Foxy's memory wasn't exactly perfect.

"I'm pretty certain we did, Foxy… Her room was the back room in the house. I… Can't remember much about her either, but I know she was there."

Foxy seemed reluctant to agree with him. "I don't know anything about that, Lad. Don't go worrying about that. You got enough on your mind."

"I guess I do," Marionette quietly agreed. More so, he suddenly backed down from continuing the conversation. He was too weary to be worrying about the past at the moment. There was too much more to be concerned about. He vanished for a few seconds, Foxy staring at the chair where he had been, and then the puppet reappeared. He now had Mike's cell phone which he set on the table and stared at. He felt a surge of exhaustion down his back from the exertion of the frequent teleportation.

He rubbed his mask tiredly as Foxy spoke. "Go to your box. I'll keep an eye out."

Marionette wearily looked towards the fox animatronic, "An eye?" His voice was playful and Foxy answered.

"Aye."

Marionette responded with a light chime of amusement. "I can't sleep without my music box. You know that…" Of course, this wasn't entirely true, but it wasn't like he had Mike. Another example of him being reliant on Mike. However, he was rather tired, and started to cave in, "…But I'll try. I need something." Slowly he pushed up from the table and headed towards the Prize Corner. Halfway there he stopped and chimed again. "This brings back memories," Marionette admitted, turning back to Foxy.

Foxy got a bit of a smile, or how he could smile, "Aye, it does. You were always roaming around at night, passing by me curtain." Marionette chimed again, remembering those long nights. Though just as quickly as he felt better, he was struck by a memory of what Ennard had said about its pizzeria. About how it didn't want to return to being a performer.

"Foxy... You want to be here, right? You aren't just going along with this because I want this, are you?" Marionette asked him. There was clear distress in his tone.

Foxy tilted his head, "Course I do. If I didn't want to be here, I'd be shoving off to rougher waters." The relaxed way he said this almost instantly convinced the puppet.

"I had to ask. When I was down in the facility, I meant another- I met something. She had mentioned a pizzeria-." Marionette's explanation was cut off by the sound of Mike's phone, the ringing of 'Toreador March'.

Marionette and Foxy both lunged for the phone. Why Foxy even wanted to race for the phone was confusing, but Marionette assumed it was partially to mess with him. Either way, the puppet got the phone first and answered it. He did his best to sound as 'human' as possible over the line.

"Hello?... Yes, I'm part of his family. How is he?" He hovered there as he listened to their assessment of Mike's treatment. Foxy listened in as well. "He is? What a relief! We were- We were all very worried about him…" His voice wavered a bit and he listened further. "… I'll be there. What's his room number?... Uh huh. Thank you so much for taking care of him." Marionette hung up the phone, "Mike's okay!" He beamed in honest relief. "They worked on him for a while, but he's going to be fine. They said that visiting hours begin at seven... So perhaps I'll head over there and check in on him then. I suppose I should let him sleep, and it won't be too long."

He checked the clock on the wall while Foxy agreed. "They'll be in an out fer a couple of hours after all of that. Checking on him. Ye best wait here."

"Then maybe I will try to sleep…" Marionette quietly caved once more as he set the phone down. "I'll need all the strength I can get if I want to slip into his room undetected." Again, Foxy nodded in agreement, and then casually put an arm around the younger.

"Come get in yer box. Foxy'll stay with ya," Foxy promised. This almost seemed like it would work. Marionette nodded and allowed himself to be escorted to the box.

He slipped inside, "Foxy, thank you." The fox animatronic gave what almost looked like a shrug.

"This is what big brother's are supposed to do," he admitted. Something in his tone betrayed more than his words did, but Marionette smiled thankfully and slid into the box. Curling into himself he tried to force relaxation. Mike would be fine, sleeping would help pass the time, and Foxy was here to watch him. It would be fine.

" _Da di dum dum dum da dum dum…"_

* * *

"So, did you ever work here, or…?"

Fritz looked up from the broken HandUnit he was fiddling with and to Jeremy. "I was here once or twice, but I never worked here. I only stopped in to move stuff with Chance or to get tools. They worked pretty closely with Freddy's, even after William Afton stopped working there."

The younger shuffled around and watched as the elevator lowered, "Did you know Afton? He was the guy running this place, right?"

Fritz shrugged, "I'd guess so, unless it was a family owned business. Never met him before." The HandUnit would need work, but Fritz was confident that he could, at least, try to get some data out of it. It probably was brimming with audio files, perhaps even some from the elusive Phone Guy. "He, Henry, and Fredrick worked together for a while, but that was before I started working there. By time I was a technician, Henry was dead, William disappeared, and Fredrick started going gray," Fritz explained further. "I really wasn't working there much earlier than you were, you know?" Jeremy nodded, then flinched as the door opened.

While Jeremy was confused about climbing in through the vent, Fritz took it in strides and simply went ahead with it. Once in the main office, they could see more evidence of a struggle. Some blood was smeared above one of the vents and a strange doll laid on the ground. Jeremy reached down and nudged it, receiving no response.

"How… Far in do we have to go?" he asked quietly. He was already starting to dread the incoming journey.

"It's not much further inside. We have to head through another vent," he pointed directly at the forward vent. "That vent. It should be past another room and in the… Circus Gallery." He squinted at the small, cursive writing. "I don't know how he expected me to read this." He then headed towards the vent and crouched down, shining his light inside. After a few moments, he started to crawl inside. Jeremy only lingered in the office for an extra moment before following behind, tucking the wooden doll into his zipped jacket. The vent let out into the Circus Control Room. Fritz took a few minutes to try and turn the lights on. This didn't work.

"Alright, so we're going in with our own lights alone. You brought yours, right?" Jeremy fumbled to bring his own flashlight out. "Good. Just stick close and we'll find it," Fritz insisted and slid through the brief crawlspace into the Circus Gallery.

"Why didn't the puppet come with us? If Mike's at the hospital anyway, he could've come down here," Jeremy pointed out as he followed suit and entered the room. He shivered as he started to shine his flashlight around, "This is so much worse than Freddy's. I should've- I should've just waited in the- Look at all the bodies!"

His flashlight fell over the multiple, small animatronics laying around the room. Some looked like babies, some looked like ballerinas, but none of them moved. "What happened down here?!" he whispered out harshly.

"I don't know. Whatever it was… Hey, look who it is!" Fritz shined his light over the female clown in the corner.

Jeremy flinched back at the sheer size of the body, " _That's_ not what we're moving, is it?"

Fritz shook his head, wandering over towards the animatronic shell. "I'm pretty sure Marionette would've said if that was the case." Fritz splayed his hands out in its direction, as though dramatically introducing it, "It's Baby!" Jeremy stared at him blankly, no recollection in his eyes. "…Circus Baby? Circus Baby's Pizza World?" Jeremy fidgeted with his glasses. "…Okay, never mind," Fritz caved and instead turned his attention on the animatronic herself. "Looks from here like it's been gutted for parts a long time ago."

Jeremy groaned from behind and started to search around the rest of the room with his light. "Let's not talk about 'gutting' until we're back in the van… There's another one."

Jeremy's light fell onto a broken magician animatronic sitting off to the side. It didn't take long before they were both standing before the broken form.

"This is it," Fritz announced, checking the map again. "Same location and everything. This has to be it… But," he lowered the map and stared at the animatronic's limp frame. "He said it was responsive. This looks a lot worse than I expected it to be." But this didn't mean that Fritz believed he couldn't repair the animatronic. It would be a hard job, but he could do it. "I think we can lift him. He can't be any heavier than Balloon Boy, and-…Wait here. I'm going to find another way to the elevator; an access hatch or something. We're not going to be able to move him through a vent," and thus, Fritz wandered off into the dark, leaving Jeremy to stand there alone.

It was extremely unnerving and he shined his flashlight around to make sure nothing was creeping up behind. His gaze was eventually cast on a poster on the wall of the Circus Gallery. There were a few posters, but on specifically caught his eye. Or, more so, he instantly recognized the white and pink fox displayed on it.

"Mangle?... No, it can't be," Jeremy murmured. He felt uncomfortable just in the vicinity of the image. "No, maybe- maybe another Toy Foxy? Do they have another Toy line?" Panic crept into him yet again as he stared at its seemingly innocent form. He could still feel Mangle's teeth digging into his arm, slicing along his flesh, trying to get to the bone underneath the shredded skin. To think that another one could exist, could easily attack him, was hard to comprehend.

The sound of a squeaking door could be heard on the far side of the room. "Fritz?!" Jeremy gasped out, staring into the dark.

To his relief, Fritz called back over, "It's me! There's a way to get to the Breaker Room from over here. If we can get it into the Ballora Gallery, then I can probably find another way to the elevator." He strode back across the room and looked down at the magician. "I'm going to need your help to move him." There was no answer. "Jeremy?" Fritz looked to him and now notice the poster he was staring at. "Funtime Foxy?"

"Why is there one of these down here?" Jeremy struggled to get out. "I thought- I thought the Mangle was destroyed with the other toys. They made more of it?"

Fritz laid a hand on his shoulder, "Relax. It just looks the same; Toy Foxy and this Foxy were probably two completely different animatronics… Besides, I don't see it anywhere. This one was probably discontinued as well." This didn't exactly make Jeremy feel any better, but as Fritz pulled him to the side to help in moving the animatronic he sort of became distracted. It was some sort of relief.

Jeremy didn't feel comfortable until he was driving Mike's car back to the warehouse, following Fritz in the van.

* * *

Heavy lids opened to reveal glassy blue eyes. Mike roused slowly, still feeling the effects of the medicine being dripped into his body earlier. Now, hours later, he still felt groggy and looked around the hospital room slowly. Something had woken him and he couldn't tell what it was at first. Looking over he could see the door, which was one propped open, was now only open a crack. Some sunlight came through the blinds, signaling that it was already morning. Regardless, Mike was still feeling relatively good. He couldn't even feel his stitches.

For a moment, he saw movement in the corner along with a dark spot in the corner of his vision. Looking over, he could see that Marionette had suddenly appeared in his hospital room. The puppet was smiling wider than usual and hovered closer to the bed. "I'm glad to see you're awake! How are you feeling?"

Mike cracked a smile right back, "Feeling great… You're looking chipper, Skipper." Right after he said this, Mike got a confused look, paused, and then chuckled a little. "I don't know what they gave me, but it's working great."

"Wonderful! I was worried that you would be in pain." Marionette reached out to touch Mike's arm that was above the blanket. Mike raised it a bit and Marionette took it as a sign to wrap his hands around Mike's own. As he did, he studied the bag of clear fluid dripping into his system. "They already finished giving you blood? That's, you really needed it."

Even in his current state, Mike noticed something odd about Marionette's behavior. "Are you okay?" he asked in a blunter fashion than usual. Marionette looked back to him.

"Hmm?... Oh, it's nothing. I'm just tired." He squeezed Mike's hand tighter. "But I wanted to come at the first opportunity. I thought if I came off of visiting hours that they would get too suspicious from the talking."

Mike nodded in agreement, "You made the right call. They were in here every couple of minutes after they put me in here. I'm going to have one hell of a scar, but I don't think it's going to be that bad. It could've been on my face or something." Mike was starting to babble, but Marionette didn't stop him.

Instead, the puppet rested his mask against Mike's tightly clutched hand. He wanted to hold him tighter, hug him tightly, but he already knew not to fool with hospital equipment. He was just so glad that Mike was alright. "How long until they release you?"

The security guard gave a partial shrug, "Don't know. Can't be that long at this rate."

Marionette looked down at their hands, his gaze down casting, "I hope not… I want you home with me. I… Couldn't stand being there alone last night. I had to spend the night with Foxy and he was… Active."

"He didn't do that singing thing again, did he?" Mike asked with an inward cringe. The fact that Mike knew what happened caused Marionette to chime in amusement, pressing his forehead against their clutching hands. "I didn't know you sung. I've heard you hum, but last night was the first time I heard you sing," Mike pointed out.

Marionette's grip tensed just a little bit, "I was hoping you wouldn't remember that after everything… But yes, I do occasionally sing. Only on special occasions."

Mike quipped a brow, "I don't consider it a special occasion."

"I consider any occasion where I'm fighting for you special enough," Marionette replied. "…I haven't forgotten what happened with  _him._  Back when my face was shattered; you protected me then. It's only fair that I return the favor one of these days." He smiled a little wider, delight in his eyes, and held Mike's hand more securely.

The security guard didn't respond at first, as though he was mulling something over for a second. Then he gave a dry chuckle, "I got close, didn't I? If it wasn't for you, I'd be… I'd be dead."

"Don't say that," Marionette lightly scolded. He didn't want to hear those words and he didn't really want to know how close they had gotten. Before he could say any more, he suddenly felt a light jolt in his body, the feeling of being watched, and heard a squeak from the door closing the rest of the way. He straightened abruptly to stare down the door, but Mike tried to tug him back down.

"Relax, it's just Jeremy. He was in here earlier," he coaxed, giving an amused smile. Marionette didn't seem fully convinced. "If it wasn't Jeremy we'd hear screaming and have people in here, right? Jeremy heard us talking and shut the door," Mike stated more seriously.

Now Marionette finally relaxed again, "You're right… I'm sorry. You can't blame me for being on edge after everything." Silence overtook the room again.

"You need to go home and get some sleep," Mike insisted more firmly. He was rousing more and starting to come out of his stupor; as such, he was starting to realize that Marionette was clearly more tired than he let on.

"I don't want to go home without you," Marionette explained. "Can I just- Can I stay? I'll leave if any doctors come in, but can I stay until then?" Mike couldn't very well turn him down and nodded, sliding up on the bed a little more.

"If you're that determined then I can't stop you." He knew it was a risk, but he didn't necessarily want to be alone. Marionette was pleased by the response and stayed. For a while the puppet was able to stay as well, moving around the room and flittering about as Mike stayed mostly quiet, still trying to fight off the waning medication.

Sometime later, the doctor came in to speak to Mike and Marionette was forced to leave. The security guard wasn't sure where he had gone, but was confident that he was safe. "How are you feeling, Mr. Schmidt?" the old man's voice was surprisingly affectionate. Much more kindly than anyone had been when he came in with the broken hand.

"Fine. Sort of out of it, but nothing's hurting," Mike responded. He tried to remember what story he and Fritz gave about how he got his injury in case he was asked again. Unfortunately, he was drawing a blank.

"That's very good to hear. You were very lucky you came in when you did," the doctor stated. "There was no damage to any of your major organs, which was also fortunate, and with the blood you received you should start feeling better immediately. While we could repair the injured muscle to the best of our abilities, you should expect some pain while the wound heals. You will also need physical therapy to make sure that the muscle fully recovers. This aside, I strongly believe that you will be able to recover to full health."

"How long are we looking at?" Mike murmured out and the doctor mentally batted around some numbers.

"Well… If you go to therapy as suggested and keep from straining the muscle, then it should be better in a few months. The wound itself will close much quicker. We'll start you on a round of antibiotics to make sure infection doesn't set in..." He trailed off, scribbling something down on his notebook.

Mike took this time to speak up, "I meant how long I had to stay in the hospital."

The doctor gave a slight shrug, "If all looks well we'll discharge you this evening." That wasn't exactly what Mike was expected after hearing 'months of recovery'. "Before you leave, we'll show you how to properly dress your wound. The biggest risk facing us is the risk of infection, so these precautions are absolutely necessary." Mike wasn't about to argue with this and instead took it all with unyielding relief. The last thing he wanted was to spend a second night in the hospital; if coming in as late as he had counted as staying all night. The doctor stepped back out, but Marionette did not return.

For the following hours, Mike spent most of his time either waiting or sleeping, as there wasn't much else to do. He was eventually discharged in the late afternoon and, regardless of how much time he slept, felt like he had been dragged through the wringer. The ride back to the house was mostly uneventful. Fritz spent it explaining to Mike about his trip into the facility with Jeremy while Mike partially listened in. It didn't take long to get home and the second the car had stopped in the driveway, parked behind Mike's own car, he started to get out.

"Hey, wait, I'm supposed to be helping you," Fritz called through the window after him.

"I left my things," Mike partially joked back. Partially because he did leave the prescription bag and the bag of clothes in the car. Mike had saved the Freddy's uniform even though it would need work before it was in wearable condition. He could only hope that Marionette would be willing to stitch the shirt… And would know how to get blood out of both white and purple fabric. He fumbled with his keys before getting the door unlocked and stepping inside.

He was immediately hit by the smell of chocolate cake. Mike betrayed his own weariness with a small smile; at least he figured out where Marionette had gone. This was only punctuated by the puppet himself suddenly appearing in the room, rushing to his side and fussily overlooking him.

"I didn't expect you back so soon! Are you okay? Maybe you shouldn't be standing," he immediately started to fuss over the security guard, only glancing away when Fritz came inside. The technician set down the bags on the dining room table.

"They couldn't wait to get rid of me," Mike cracked back playfully. "But look, I came baring gifts. Prescription pills and bloody clothing for all." He dramatically gestured over, then immediately regretted it as he felt a cinch in his side and a shot of pain. The medicine was still masking most of it, but it was still there.

Marionette noticed that he stiffened and telekinetically nudged a dining room chair out, "Sit down. Are you hungry? There's cake."

Mike slowly sat down, uncomfortably feeling his back protest further, "I'm not really hungry."

"That's perfect, because it's not iced," Marionette stated matter of factly, jokingly. His tone quickly shifted, "Mike, I think you're supposed to be laying down. This is probably putting tension on your back." He fussily fiddled with Mike's hair, "Though I can tell that you've been in bed quite a bit…"

Mike wasn't surprised by Marionette's fussy behavior and slowly exhaled. "I know… I'll probably go lay down in the bedroom. I've been looking forward to staring at the ceiling for hours on end." Marionette took the bag with Mike's clothes and glanced inside.

He shivered in disturbance at the blood. It wasn't as bad as seeing it on himself, but it was still hard to look at. "Think they're salvageable?" Mike asked as he tiredly leaned against the table.

"I think I've salvaged much worse," Marionette chirped in a blatantly lie and carried them off to put them on the washing machine.

In this time, Mike noticed that Fritz was silently standing there, oddly watching the scene without saying anything. "Something up?"

Fritz pulled out of it, "I'm good. Just getting my thoughts together."

"That sounds fun," Mike added in and started rubbing his head again. He wasn't feeling good enough to sit at the table and knew he was going to have to either move to the couch or the bedroom. The bedroom seemed more comfortable, but he would have less to distract him. No matter what the choice it was a lose-lose situation in the long run.

"I've got to get going. If you need anything then just call Jeremy or me," Fritz invited. He then looked down the hall at Marionette. "Just try not to get too frisky or anything."

"Frisky?" Mike asked in confusion. "What do you think I'm going to do, play fetch?"

Oddly enough, Fritz got a little uncomfortable at this point. Mike could tell as he anxiously coughed into his hand and fiddled with his car keys. "You know what I mean," Fritz spoke. Mike had no idea what he meant. Shortly afterwards he left, all the while Mike stayed sitting at the dining room table, feeling too uncomfortable to move.

Marionette returned once again, "I'm glad to be home." He admitted this as he sat down across from Mike.

"It feels pretty great to be back here. Stitches or not, we're home," Mike also admitted. This was a relatively new feeling for him. "You know, all the years I worked at Freddy's I never felt like this. I was glad to go home, but I never felt like I was… I don't know. Something about this feels different." His smile returned, "It feels pretty good. To think, all we had to do is get threatened with inevitable death. Now we get to appreciate coming back to the house." Marionette chimed in amusement at this comment. He was clearly thrilled to have Mike to himself again.

"All in all, it was a small price to pay. I can't say it first hand with you being the one whose injured, but the fact that we got away from there is worth so much more…" Marionette started to trail off. "…I was truly worried about you."

Mike nodded in understanding, deciding not to verbally state how embarrassed he was about the situation. For Mike, getting injured to the point where he could barely defend himself was something to be ashamed of. Especially when the injury was caused by him not watching his own feet.

"I wasted time when I saw the magician," Marionette confessed. "And then she went after you. I swear, Mike, if I had known that she was there I would've never stopped." He tightened his hands into fists as they rested in his lap. Like Mike, he was ashamed of an issue caused by his own choice. Unlike Mike, his humiliation came from his inability to protect his companion. Perhaps in the end he had saved Mike, but he couldn't help but think that maybe, if he would've been quicker, the threat wouldn't have been nearly as great.

"Don't worry about it," Mike responded. "She was coming one way or the other. You were there exactly when I needed you, so you've got nothing to feel bad about." Mike, now feeling much more sore, pushed the chair back. "Now that our shared pity party is over, I'm going to go lay in bed and stare at the ceiling." He awkwardly shuffled to the hallway, trying not to move too dramatically.

Marionette followed behind him, "That sounds fun and all, but I have a cake to ice. Shall I bring you a piece when I'm finished?"

Mike's hunger hadn't exactly returned, but he gave a shrug of partial agreement. "What the hell, it gives me something to do." As he approached the master bedroom he noticed that he was feeling a bit better. Sore, yes, but somehow a different weight was easing off his shoulders.

They weren't supposed to get home, but they did. This was something worth celebrating, even if everything didn't feel 'back to normal' just yet.


	34. Chapter 34

_Mike awoke with a foggy head and groggily started to sit upwards in bed. Something was wrong; his chest was tightening up. With a cough, he stumbled to his feet and shuffled down the dark hall and towards the bathroom. While passing Marionette's room he could hear the sound of soft music and knew the puppet was still asleep. This was probably for the best and he stepped into the bathroom. The light flickered as he turned it on and stood in front of the mirror. His own reflection stared back at him with a blank glaze._

_It was harder to breathe and Mike coughed a few times before unbuttoning his shirt. As he moved the fabric aside he was suddenly hit with an alarming sight. There was a large line down his chest and stomach. He slowly pulled the skin away, opening his own abdomen and revealing organs and flesh underneath. However, these organs were enwrapped with cold metal wires which slowly slid around, tightening on his insides. He could hear crunching as the wires began to spread, revealing a metal skull staring out from inside._

" _Shh… It's okay. We're just sharing."_

Mike shot upwards in bed and gasped for breath. The tightness in his chest and throat was so severe that he was almost able to ignore the searing pain in his back from the abrupt movement. He fumbled in the dark, frantically turning the bedside lamp on and waiting to feel the relief of waking set in. It had only been a nightmare. He soon realized that the tightness wasn't leaving and that something was terribly wrong. He couldn't tell if it was his back or if it was something else, maybe the medicine, and scrambled to figure it out.

It was only once he started to shake that he realized exactly what was wrong with him. He yanked open the bedside drawer and frantically searched through it for a bottle.

"Mike?" Mike hadn't even heard Marionette's box opening. The puppet had moved his box into the room to sleep with the human. This was mutually preferred by both parties after such a hectic night beforehand.

"I'm fine, I just- I need my medicine," Mike managed to get out in the most unconvincing sputter of words imaginable. Then he found them, yanking the bottle out and struggling to open them.

Right as he cracked the bottle open, Marionette chimed in, "Will those effect the others?" It was only now that Mike even considered the antibiotics and pain medicine he was on. He couldn't be certain if the medicines would react with each other. With a swear he forced himself to close the bottle and nearly tossed it onto the nightstand, where it promptly rolled and fell off.

He dragged his fingers through his hair, "I'm fine, just- give me a minute. I just need a minute." He tried to ride it out. Now that he knew what it was, knew exactly what was wrong, he knew that it would go away on its own.

Marionette came closer, clearly concerned, and moved in front of the man. "What is it? What's wrong?" He couldn't understand what was happening. Mike was kind of relieved that he couldn't visually assume what it was. Once he got more control on himself, now left weary and shaken, literally, from the experience, he pried his hands from his face. The nightmare wasn't even a thought in his mind anymore; not after waking to something like this. Marionette was so concerned and Mike wanted to assure him that he was fine, but he couldn't.

Instead, he reached forward and took him by the arms, pulling him closer. The animatronic's face betrayed his surprise as Mike held him close, resting his head against his buttons, moving to wrap his arms around him in a desperate hug. Marionette was even more shocked by how needy the entire action was. Mike silently clung to Marionette like a child would cling to a toy; like he would cling to his Golden Freddy plush. Slowly the puppet put an arm around Mike's back and then pet over his hair.

"It's all over, Mike. You're safe," he quietly soothed. He focused on caressing, on reassuring, and an exhale was the only response he received. This was his confirmation that, indeed, Mike direly needed this. Even if this didn't erase whatever physically happened to Mike when he awoke, he still needed this more than ever. That was what Marionette could give to him. For the first time, Marionette knew what it was like every time Mike comforted him. He wondered if it hurt Mike as much to see him in tears as it hurt Marionette to see Mike in shambles.

"Stay with me," Mike suddenly said midway through the comfort. Marionette hesitated, contemplating whether or not to remind him that he was already staying with him, but shrugged it off and focused on the more important task at hand. He answered with a chime of contentment and shift so that he could properly embrace Mike. Then, in a spontaneous moment, he decided to take a cue from his brother.

" _And I can't give you back the things you had, but you don't have to do this on your own~…"_ Marionette quietly began to sing. Unlike the frantic pace from the fight previously, this time the tone was much more gentle. This was no longer a battle cry. It was now a reassurance.  _"You're not alone.~"_

* * *

When Mike awoke he could immediately tell that he overslept. He needed to take his pain medicine and the sun coming through the window was obnoxiously bright. He turned over, ignoring all of the bombarding things, and felt around the other side of the bed. Unexpectedly, Marionette was no longer in the bed. Which was slightly a shame as it meant that he would need to get out of bed too. However, a greater embarrassment kicked in as Mike remembered the night before. He groaned and shoved his face into his pillow.

" _Maybe I could suffocate myself and end my misery,"_  he mentally considered. This thought was soon shot down. " _That'll look great. I survive an attack by that monstrosity and then end up dying face down in bed. I'll look like an idiot… Or like an overdose."_ He dragged himself out of the bed, casting a brief glance to the pill bottle on the nightstand. It wasn't on the floor anymore, which meant that Marionette had retrieved it. Which meant that most likely he read what it was for as well. He shoved the pill bottle into the back of the drawer once more.

" _Please let him just forget about last night,"_ he thought to himself as he stepped into the hall. He had hoped that Marionette would be distracted so that he could slip by undetected. Instead, there the puppet was further down the hallway, winding the grandfather clock in the hall. He immediately looked over towards him.

"Good morning, Mike!" he chimed with an eagerly upbeat tone in his voice. "I made breakfast if you're hungry, or there's always leftover cake. I could turn on the coffee maker if you'd like." Marionette was sounding just a tad too helpful. Mike didn't like the sudden throb of disappointment in himself for letting himself get seen as he had.

"Yeah, that's- That'll be great. I just need to go change my dressing." He pointed towards the bathroom, really using it as an excuse to get a few more minutes to pull himself together. Though he did need to change the bandaging.

Marionette seemed to understand, "If you need any help with that I can help. Let me just go turn the coffee on."

As he started off, Mike called after him, "Don't worry, I got it covered… Literally." He then closed himself off into the bathroom. In the time that it took for him to check the wound and rebandage it, he decided what he was going to do. The wound was looking to be healing alright. There wasn't any blood nor any excessive puffiness, no immediate signs of infection, and the pain was present but didn't feel too overwhelming. All in all, it so far looked like everything was good. This meant he would have to go confront Marionette.

He decided to just be honest with him. It was better than having Marionette assume what he could from the bottle and the fit alone. He had no choice except to trust that the puppet would understand. He headed out into the living room, sitting down as he sorted through the bag of medicine left out on the table. The antibiotic wasn't to be taken until later, which left only the relief of his pain medication. He popped open the bottle and took one out, preparing to try and swallow it dry before Marionette suddenly was at his side with a glass of water.

"Thanks," Mike accepted the assistance. He couldn't tell anymore if it was because of the injury or the fit that he was being so helpful. Marionette then, almost insistently, brought in a piece of pizza on a plate.

"I know you may not be hungry, but you need to eat if you want to get better," he instructed. Mike wasn't entirely surprised that the breakfast he had made was yet another pizza. After all, pizza was clearly what Marionette was created to deal with, being a pizzeria animatronic. Mike didn't turn it away; he was hungrier than he expected and just seeing the pizza reminded him.

Once he was finished, he sat the plate down for a moment, pausing to get his thoughts together, and looked to Marionette who had sat down on the couch beside him. "…So about what happened last night. You're probably wondering what that was," Mike began. Marionette was watching with interest. His face stayed the same, and that alone showed that he was physically trying to cover any reaction. He was more concerned than Mike had originally assumed by his bubbly demeanor.

"I had a panic attack," Mike explained. He got it out in one fell swoop, inhaled, and continued. "This isn't the first time I've had them. I've had a problem with them popping up for a while, but recently I've not been having them as much. I'd say, probably, since my last job at Freddy's I've only had a handful, and all but one's been at night…" It felt odd to admit to this. Especially since bringing up Freddy's meant that most likely Marionette put together that it was the origin of these attacks. Which, as far as Mike knew, it was.

Mike hadn't lied when he said he enjoyed working at Freddy's out of weird sense of thrill. Or that he wasn't afraid of working at Freddy's. Yet there were aftereffects that he hadn't mentioned, which posed a risk to his own honesty, and he quickly tried to get back on track and away from Freddy's. "I don't know if the nightmare caused it or if it caused the nightmare. Maybe it was the pills or something." He moved his pain medicine and dropped it back into the bag. "But I'm okay, alright? This sometimes happens and then it goes away. I'm not nuts or anything."

Marionette didn't answer until Mike looked towards him, coaxing a response. "I never thought you were, Mike. Last night startled me, but I'm just glad that you're okay now." He sounded sincere and Mike couldn't hear any sort of lying in his voice. He couldn't even detect any patronization in what he said.

"I just wanted to catch you up on all of this," Mike excused. He was still feeling more embarrassed than ever. "I could've handled it better."

There was a chime of amusement in response. "You handled  _her_ surprisingly well. Maybe this is just compensation?" He let the joke sink in before adding in, "Please, Mike, I'm glad to see that I can help you for a change." He stood and moved back into the kitchen. Mike was about to argue with this fact, but then seemed to realize that Marionette had moved out of the room because he was uncomfortable. Mike hadn't asked, but maybe Marionette was not doing as well as he let on.

"…Did Fritz get those files?" Mike asked, not wanting to but knowing he had to. Marionette hesitated in the kitchen, hovering around but not saying anything.

"…Not yet," Marionette admitted. "I… They're in the file cabinet. I just wanted to keep them close by until you decided what to do." This wasn't entirely true. It was more that, out of reflex, Marionette hid the information. It was just so atrocious, so disturbing; to think that there was animatronics made solely to kidnap and or kill children. To think that the animatronics had one, terrifying consciousness.

The security guard took a moment before making his decision. "Fritz and Jeremy need to know… We probably should've told them before they went down there, but what the hell; better late than never." He stretched out on the couch, letting himself lay limply on the furniture. "They need to know. As much as I hate it, I made a pact to be transparent with everything." Marionette didn't verbally agree or disagree, so Mike insisted further. "If we don't tell them then it could come back and bite us where it hurts."

"I'll take them over to Fritz. I need to visit the warehouse anyway to check on the magician," Marionette replied. He had told him the day before about the magician being the child they were searching for. It was some relief in knowing that even though the entire event was hectic, they did succeed in finding what they were looking for. The magician animatronic was safe and that was something worth celebrating. "But don't expect me to stay too long after I hand this over. The last thing _I_  want is to have to answer questions."

"Which is exactly why I have no problem with you going alone," Mike pointed out. He then smirked a little, "I'll be riding out this injury for a while, so until then I'm not planning on running errands." He could hear Marionette chime in amusement and added in, "It's cute that you think I'm joking." He noticed the striped male heading towards the hallway, looking up as he laid his head on the armrest. "You're not going yet, are you?" It was a casual inquiry. Mike was sure it was still early, that Fritz was probably not there, and didn't want to be stuck at home alone for nothing.

Marionette hesitated in the hallway for a second. Something Mike said had clicked with him and he immediately changed course. "…No, no. I'm just getting the file now, but I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

Marionette didn't end up leaving until the afternoon. He didn't want to leave Mike alone until he was fully convinced that he was comfortable and stable. Mike was mostly inactive, which was to be expected. It didn't seem to be connected to the issue with the night before at least. When the puppet finally did muster up the will to leave the house it only took him a moment to arrive at the warehouse. Luckily, Fritz was already there, working in the office with the HandUnit laying on his desk. He must have sensed Marionette's presence as he glanced upwards.

He must have still not expected Marionette, as upon seeing him he flinched back in surprise. Marionette wasn't going to pretend that he didn't find it amusing, but said nothing and instead dropped the file onto the desk. "This is what we found down there. Mike insisted that you see it. Personally, I would've rather not seen this," he admitted.

Fritz seemed remotely confused and took the file. "What is it?" the technician inquired as he flipped it open. "…Blueprints? How many animatronics were down there?" Marionette chose not to response; Fritz had unintentionally left him with a question that had a difficult answer. Technically there were numerous animatronics, but they all had a similar consciousness. Marionette decided to simply not answer the question.

"Where is the magician?" Marionette asked in concern.

Fritz gestured back into the warehouse, "I got most of him together last night. Some of its parts need replacements, but I'm going to have to call around about getting them. Might call Glenn or something, did any of the Chipper- What…?" Fritz seemed to apparently notice something that stood out on the blueprints. Marionette took this moment to flee into the warehouse.

It didn't take him too long to find the magician. He was being kept in the area where Foxy had once made his faux Pirate's Cove instead of one of the back rooms. He could also see Jeremy through the shelves, fiddling with some boxes. He approached the magician first and greeted him, "It's good to see you put back together again." The magician clearly waited until Jeremy moved into the office with Fritz before he spoke.

"I almost didn't think you'd come back for me," the magician pointed out. He was casual, as though merely shooting the breeze about pizza recipes. "I could hear something was going on over there. You look okay so I guess she didn't get her way with you." Marionette nodded in agreement. "So yeah, thanks. No hard feelings, right?" Marionette shook his head, smiling honestly. "Last thing I need is you having a grudge. She- It would've never let you out; I don't even want to know what you did to it… On second thought, yes I do."

Marionette chimed in amusement and prepared to speak when he heard a soft thump. He turned his head curiously towards the shelves to see that a box was knocked over. Suddenly he wondered if this was the alleged haunting that he had yet to see and moved closer. The magician watched, but had fallen silent yet again. There was a soft pattering on the shelves and Marionette could see an empty cardboard box shift. He approached further, floating up to the proper shelf and pulling the box out and searching around.

It didn't take long before Marionette noticed something that pointedly shouldn't have been there. Amongst the leftover items, some of it being sold in the auction, was a white face staring back at him. Immediately Marionette recognized that this wasn't the ghost; this small doll was much more familiar. It vanished behind some stuff, continuing down the shelves, giggling as it went. He held the empty cardboard box and followed along behind it, watching as things were shifted around from its movements. For a few short seconds, it seemingly vanished.

There was no movement, no shifting in front of him, and Marionette was confused to where it had gone. It didn't take too long for him to hear the soft pattering on the floor. Turning back, he could see the source of the noise. There, crossing the floor, was one of the Minireenas. It didn't seem too scared as it would stop every step or so to add in an extra spin, like the little ballerina she was. Marionette didn't give chase, he just tilted his head curiously, teleported to be over her, and dropped the cardboard box overtop of her.

With the Minireena contained, Marionette lowered himself into a kneel and lifted the box a small bit. The Minireena was crouched down in a defense posture, suddenly not eager to laugh and dance. Marionette was more confused than anything else; he didn't feel threatened by the small doll. As he lifted the cardboard box, footsteps suddenly could be heard, and Jeremy ran onto the scene.

"Wait!" he sputtered out in an awkward choke. "Wait, wait, this isn't what you think!" he defended in a frantic display. But Marionette already had a good idea about what he thought and he had feeling that it was close to the mark. He took the box fully off while Jeremy crouched down and scooped up the doll. Marionette noticed immediately how the Minireena clung onto Jeremy's shirt; Jeremy had to stop her from climbing him fully. "She's-Uh- I saw the others- She's not aggressive," Jeremy scrambled to explain, as though the puppet was about to fly into a defensive rage.

Even when fighting the Minireenas, Marionette hadn't felt that worried about them. Though the Minireena began to giggle again as it pawed at him, which wasn't exactly assisting in Jeremy's case.

Fritz heard the commotion and stepped out of the office. He took one look at Jeremy and did a double take at seeing the animatronic. "What- When did that one start moving?... Wait, no, when did you even bring that back from ARI anyway?!"

Jeremy flinched back at Fritz's reaction, "It was the one from the office. She started moving last night…" He looked to Marionette now as though he didn't understand. "Is it a problem?"

"It is now!" Fritz sputtered, lifting the folder of blueprints as to present it to Jeremy. Marionette had the urge to just turn and leave. Any other situation and he would've. "The animatronics in here- For the love of-!"

"It's not the same situation, Sam," Marionette verbally dismissed in a reassuring manner, though unintentionally called Fritz by his alternate name. "These small ballerinas were simply guided by Ballora- 'deter and misdirect'- and I doubt this one alone is much of a threat without her." He shrugged, opening his arms in an accepting gesture. "If Jeremy wants the responsibility to tend to it and to watch over it, then that's his choice. She doesn't threaten us." He then turned and approached the magician, looking over him as the humans continued to speak. The magician was still alert but stayed fully silent.

"Jeremy, I want you to read this file," Fritz insisted, handing it over. "If you're still sure after you see what was going on under Afton's, then be my guest." Jeremy took the folder and glanced at it, not yet opening it. Fritz then approached the puppet and, almost uncomfortably, asked a further question. "Which… Which one of those things was the one that got Mike?"

Marionette wasn't sure why Fritz wanted information that specific. In any case, did it matter? It would if they were going after said animatronic, but Marionette had already done that to a degree. Then again, the answer wasn't exactly what Fritz was looking for either. "The floor got Mike," Marionette replied. His tone wavered between its usual upbeat sound to one a little more somber. It was an amusing reveal, but revealing it happened at all was already a failure on his part. "The building was falling apart and Mike fell through."

"Oh… Alright, he mentioned that before. I just thought he was, you know, sparing my feelings or something." Fritz absentmindedly adjusted his cap. "I just thought that he didn't want to scare us... Or this was a pride thing or something." This line did get a genuine chime out of Marionette.

"Was Foxy down there?" Jeremy inquired, trying to open the folder while still containing the Minireena. She had now climbed onto his shoulder and seemed absolutely determined not to stay still. She giggled again as she avoided his grasp.

"It was," Marionette answered. "It's in the folder as well. It was down there, but it wasn't either of the Foxys I remember… Didn't seem like it would be much fun for kids either." Fritz made a strange coughing noise Marionette clearly noticed and added in, "In every sense of the term." Fritz nodded in agreement, but it looked more like a shuffle than anything else. "I didn't think any of them were in working condition."

"I found her in one of the offices and brought her home. I really just thought I could prop her up and display her somewhere, but last night she started to move around on her own," Jeremy explained. He reached upwards and patted the doll on the back. It shifted from contact. "But she's been friendly. She's- She's a little bit of a handful, but she seems to like me."

By time Jeremy had gotten the file open, Marionette had decided to make his abrupt exit. He looked towards Fritz, "I'll be off. I don't want to leave Mike alone for too long in his state." Fritz agreed and Marionette sent a brief, silent reassurance to the magician. The magician didn't seem bothered; considering his current situation compared to his old one, he was as calm as could be.

"If it's alright, could I stop by later and see him? Just to make sure he's okay. I'm a little worried about him," Jeremy asked, as though he needed permission. "I won't be bringing her. I don't think Mike's going to want to…" He went silent as he stared at something in the file.

"There's my cue to leave!" Marionette chirped, looked to them both, and gave a final, "Thank you both." Then he was abruptly gone.

* * *

A few days had passed since Marionette had visited the warehouse. Since then, Jeremy and Fritz had visited on a daily basis. Fritz was still trying to get information out of the HandUnit. By now he had gotten it to come on, but was having trouble accessing the information stored inside. Jeremy, on the other hand, was having a little more trouble with the new addition to his life. Minireena had become even more of a handful with her curiosity and disregard of knocking things about. Though he mentioned that Foxy hadn't disliked her, whenever they had seen Foxy.

Mike hadn't left the house since he returned from the hospital. If this was any other case, Marionette would've been worried, but Mike was acting relatively normal. He was more tired, probably from the medicine, and much less active, probably from the wound. Still, Mike seemed in relatively high enough spirits, and when he wasn't laying there he was interested in what Marionette was doing. Being that he had lost a lot of what he could do, naturally Marionette became his distraction for the immediate moment.

Unfortunately, Marionette had been focused on nothing except cleaning the blood off Mike's jacket since that morning. He had washed it multiple times to no avail, the blood stains still lingering, and Mike had casually mentioned throwing it out and getting a replacement. Next thing he knew, Marionette was scrubbing it in the sink, obsessively determined to get the blood out. Naturally, this amused Mike to no end, and he occasionally made light jabs that Marionette deflected before returning to his task. Marionette simply could not accept failure.

It was around this time that Mike got a phone call. He assumed it would be Fritz or Jeremy, one of them in a frenzy over the 'headaches' that they brought back from ARI. Instead, it was none other than Natalie. "Hey, Mike! It's, uh… Been a while," she began with a strange amount of hesitance. Natalie wasn't the hesitant type. Or at least, wasn't usually the hesitant type around Mike.

"Hey, Stranger," Mike greeted right back. "Where've you been hiding?" He was being playful enough that Natalie eased almost immediately over the phone.

"I've just been working a lot. I'm thinking of switching jobs; ever since you've left everyone decided to act insane. It's like you started some sort of revolution," Natalie pointed out. "So, if you're feeling any better- I know you were just in the hospital- I was wondering if you'd… Like to get a drink or something to eat? My treat." The offer was tempting. Regardless of Mike's injury and how accepting he was of just lying around until he recovered, Mike did like the idea of going out. Especially since he hadn't seen Natalie in so long.

"Sounds good to me. Do you mind driving? I don't trust myself behind the wheel of car yet," Mike asked. Though he left out the fact that he more so didn't feel like driving than he didn't think he could drive.

She agreed to this immediately. "Sure! I'll be over there in a couple of minutes!" Natalie sounded quite happy about the arrangement and the call ended soon afterwards.

"Mari, I'm going out. Try not to scrub your hands off while I'm gone," Mike called over into the kitchen, then went to get himself put together. At first Marionette didn't seem concerned, but in the time that Mike finished getting dressed to leave he suddenly seemed very interested. Mike grabbed his cellphone and keys, the latter even though he wasn't driving. It was then that he noticed Marionette now following him. "At least you're taking a break," Mike added in with a light smirk.

Marionette chimed lightly with an almost distracted air. "For a few seconds. Where are you going?"

"Natalie invited me out. I've got to take the offer for a ride while I still can. Fritz is practically my chauffer," Mike pointed out. "I won't be too long. Maybe an hour at most; depends on how long I want to sit there."

"I would drive you if I could, Mike, and I'm sure I could if I wasn't at risk of being seen," Marionette randomly volunteered. Mike gave a slight scoff-like snicker at this. The puppet pointedly ignored this and continued, "Just make sure you don't overdo it… I don't want you to get out there and get overwhelmed…"

"I'll be fine. I already took my meds and Natalie will drive me back if I get too stiff or anything. If anything, this is a good thing; I'm going to have to eventually get to the point where I can work again if we're going to continue work on the Pizzeria." This had been one of the things weighing in on Mike's mind. While he knew for a fact that Fritz and Jeremy were still working on getting the Pizzeria ready to open, this setback had left him out of work for at least a little while. He wasn't contributing and while it wasn't pressing just yet, the lack of funds and the idleness was soon to haunt him.

Natalie could be heard pulling into the driveway. "There's my ride," Mike announced and started to step out before stopping and looking back. "Don't worry about me. I'll be back before you know it." This seemed to help the puppet a little more as Mike shut the door. He then headed down to Natalie's car and eagerly climbed into the passenger seat. "That was pretty quick."

"I was already on the road when I called, so you saying 'yes' was a lucky break," Natalie replied with a smile. "You're looking great. I thought you were going to still have that 'fresh out of the hospital' look."

"Trust me, I did. This took days to pull off," Mike pointed out. They started to drive off in some random direction. Mike didn't ask where they were going; he just assumed that Natalie knew where they were going.

She then turned to look at him, gesturing into the back. "I got you something." Mike looked into the back seat, trying not to move his back too much. Sitting in the backseat was a little gift basket, fitted with a 'get well soon' card, some packaged items, and a little doctor dressed teddy bear. She beamed only wider as he grabbed it and brought it into his lap.

"You didn't have to get me anything." As much as Mike said this, the fact that he dug into the basket immediately was sign enough that he was happy. "Thanks!"

"No problem. I would've gotten it to you sooner, but… Something came up…" Natalie suddenly lost her smile. She stared at the road, her hands fidgeting on the steering wheel. "…I wanted to see you in the hospital. I was there to see you, when I-… Okay, Mike, time to tell the truth. I've been avoiding you for the last few days." Mike looked surprised by the revelation. To be honest, he hadn't noticed, but that was only because he and Natalie hadn't seen each other as much since he had been fired from his job.

"Any reason why?" Mike inquired. His focus was suddenly off the basket and onto Natalie. She looked more than a little flustered. Something about her was just amiss; he was surprised that he hadn't noticed her behavior beforehand. She had hidden it well, even on the phone.

"…Yeah, Mike, there is." Natalie pulled into the parking lot at a fast food restaurant. She didn't stop to eat there, but only to stop the car and discuss what was going on. "I couldn't talk to you about this on the phone. It's too… It's too important. For the last couple of days, I didn't even know what to do about it. I just- You mean a lot to me, Mike. So, I knew that this was coming…" She fiddled with her keys as Mike leaned back in the seat. "I felt terrible after you were fired. It wasn't fair that you got cut off like that, and then this happened."

She gave a small smile, "And I realized how worried I was when I realized you were in the hospital. Fritz called me and told me. I knew I had to come see you and do something to make up for what happened. So, I bought you a basket," she gestured to the basket. "And I…" She started to trail off. "I… This is really hard to get out."

Seeing how uncomfortable she was getting, Mike nudged further. "Natalie, you can tell me. Nothing you say is going to change our friendship, right?" he gave a small smile. She stared at him for a second as though letting the words sink in. Then she inhaled sharply and confessed.

"I saw Mari."

For a few seconds it didn't sink in. Mike didn't seem to process the words for at least a few minutes. Then they managed to come to him, "…What? Mari?" She couldn't have seen Marionette. Mike knew that there was no way she could've seen him. "What are you… Talking about?"

"I saw Mari at the hospital," Natalie explained. "I was just so stunned I-… I didn't know what to do."

"Wait, no, hold on," Mike interjected. "Are you sure you didn't see  _Jeremy?_ He was sitting outside the room for a while." It was all denial; Mike was scrambling to deny the fact that they hadn't been careful enough. That somehow someone stumbled upon Marionette while he was at the hospital.

"I saw him with you," Natalie explained. "At first I was just- I'll be honest, I was horrified. You don't usually walk in on a… On something like that. I didn't even know what he was until I realized that I recognized his voice." She looked to Mike again, "I heard Mari once or twice when you were talking on the phone with him, so I know. I thought that Mari wasn't ever there because, you know, he had another job or was shy, or something…" She got an uneasy smile, "But the truth was that this whole time he wasn't… human."

She did see him. Mike cringed, teeth clenching, as a wave of panic passed by. Friend or not, she had seen Marionette, she had seen everything. He held back whatever swear wanted to slip out and replaced it with an, "…Oh." Silence overtook the car for a few moments, "…Uh… Yeah, I can see why you'd… Be a little shocked from seeing that." He coughed into his fist before grasping the door handle, which gave him something adequate to hold onto. " _You've talked yourself out of worse things than this, Mike. Say something."_

"Is he an animatronic?" Natalie asked with a quiet and curious tone. As uncomfortable as she had been earlier, Mike only noticed now that Natalie didn't sound necessarily afraid.

"…Yeah, he is," Mike exhaled through the comment. "You remember what I told you about the Pizzeria and the animatronics. It all still stands, just… Happened to leave out the fact that Mari was one of them. I didn't really have a choice." He kept a straight face, but forced out a joke in the form of, "He came with the house." This got a smile out of Natalie, at least. That was something in the right direction at least. "Everything I said about Mari is one hundred percent true. Even the constant cupcake baking. It's weird, but it's all true."

Natalie was clearly listening. When Mike took a moment to hesitate, she spoke in. "It took me a little while to figure it all out, you know? But I knew at the moment that you weren't afraid. I saw you, you clearly weren't scared of him, and then the voice- It all clicked together." She looked down for a moment. "I didn't know how to talk about it. That's basically the reason I called you tonight… And to go out! Of course, to go out too. This wasn't some sort of confrontation or anything."

"No, I'm glad to know. I knew we were risking it in the hospital. Funny, Mari even thought…" He trailed off as he realized when Marionette heard someone outside the door it had been Natalie. Though it could've been anyone. "He just wanted to check in on me. I wasn't doing so well when I went in… I'd give examples, but I can barely remember any of it." He paused a moment and then admitted, "Marionette was the one who saved my life. It's not exactly the first time, but it's the first time I actually thought I was going to die."

"Wow…" Natalie broke in quietly. She was listening intently, so Mike continued.

"I'm not ashamed of what he is, but it's one of those things that has to stay quiet. I want things as comfortable as possible for Mari and me, so we… We don't try to risk him getting seen. I mean, it'll be fine at the Pizzeria, but if he's out and about moving, without any strings or anything, then people are going to get spooked. The only people who know Mari is how he is would be Fritz and Jeremy, and me, and now you." He looked to Natalie with a look of stone cold seriousness, "You didn't tell anyone else?"

"Who would I tell?" Natalie retorted back. She then answered fully, "I didn't tell anybody. I just… I wouldn't have told anyone before I talked to you."

"Thanks. It's important that nobody else gets wrapped up in it. The last thing we need is that sort of annoyance. Am I right?" Mike couldn't help but feel relieved. "Now that you've seen him you might as well meet him. I'd have to run it by him first; he doesn't do well with unexpected visitors," Mike offered. The look that passed Natalie's face was a nervous one, but didn't look entirely reluctant. "Oh, come on. He's not as terrifying as he would seem. Once you get used to the constant smile then it's just like talking with anyone else."

Meanwhile, Mike's eyes went down to the gift basket. Speaking of the puppet, there were a lot of things in this basket that he knew Marionette would love. He still did owe Marionette and this conversation only reminded him of the fact. It wasn't like he could take Marionette anywhere either. Instead he was out with Natalie while Marionette was sitting at home alone. His eyes briefly landed on a small box with the words 'exotic butter' printed on the side. After a moment of considering what exotic butter was, and why exactly it would be in a health basket, a sudden idea came to his mind.

"Hey… Mind if we stop somewhere a little different? There's something I probably need to do…"


	35. Chapter 35

Marionette hadn't expected to hear the front door open so quickly after Mike had left. Perking from his current focus, which was on his plush collection, he hesitated to see if he could sense the intruder before they got too close. He could recognize the patterns and the feel almost immediately; Mike had returned. He teleported directly out of his room and into the living room to greet the human. Indeed, there was Mike; carrying in a couple of bags that he set out on the dining room table. Marionette fought down the urge to scold him on carrying so much in his state.

"Mike…?" he asked curiously. Mike looked to him with a smile; as though everything was perfectly fine. He hadn't come home because of an issue with Natalie. He clearly wasn't intoxicated or anything. Even pain wasn't the cause or Mike wouldn't have carried in the bag so easily. It didn't make sense to the puppet.

"Hey! You're just on time," Mike jokingly remarked as he brought something out of a bag. "Check out this gift basket Natalie got me." He set it out on the table, revealing it to Marionette. The puppet looked over the basket eagerly, studying every object that he could see in direct sight, overflowing with interest.

He gave a chime of delight, "That was very nice of her." Marionette hummed to himself as he reached forward to fiddle through what he could immediately see. Mike was pleased by his interest in the basket.

"It was, wasn't it?" Mike quipped back as he brought something out of a second plastic bag and set it out on the table. "And here's yours." Marionette was clearly surprised from his movements, looking to the second basket that had been presented. It was a red basket overflowing with plush animals. "I knew you wouldn't use it, so I forgo-ed the food and just filled it with Beanie Babies," Mike pointed out, clearly happy with his own decision. Marionette was as well; he gave a further chime of eager delight and took the red colored basket into his hands.

"Oh, I love it!" Marionette finally spoke to show his delight. He then started to eagerly shuffle through the box; counting and analyzing each of the plush toys waiting inside. "They're adorable!" Mike seemed pleased with the results.

"And that's not all," he added as he turned to the last bag. "I was thinking about it and since we got out of Afton's all we've done is lament, sulk, and beat around the bush as much as possible.  _We_ should be celebrating surviving the night, not regret things that we couldn't control." As he announced this he got out a few video tapes from the final bag. "So, I rented some bad movies and we're going to have actual fun on our own. What do you think?" He was smiling again, confident and coaxing. It was as though old Mike had broken back through.

This all surprised Marionette. Something didn't seem to make sense. "It makes perfect sense to me! But Natalie, what about her?" Mike knew he would ask and handed the tapes over, then headed to the pantry to get the popcorn.

"Natalie was cool with it. In fact, she thought it was a good idea." Mike put a new popcorn bag into the microwave and turned it on. "She helped me find a place that sold those things," Mike added as he gestured to the plush animals. Marionette hugged a few of them closer out of reflex. Then the security guard coughed, rubbed his sore back, and slipped in, "She saw you at the hospital, you know. That wasn't Jeremy." When Marionette didn't answer, Mike became slightly concerned and glanced back.

There was something that always amused Mike about seeing the usual smiling face contort into complete shock. Maybe it was because he knew that Marionette couldn't control it. Whatever it was, it certainly had its charm. "It could've been worse," Mike shrugged. Marionette reacted by making a noise similar to a ringing dial tone. White pinpricks appeared in his eyes and frantically shifted around; there came the panic. "Hey, relax, okay?" Mike grasped his shoulder and nearly shook him out of it. "Natalie won't say anything. The only thing that changed is that she probably questions my judgement."

He was joking, of course, winking to show it before heading back to fixate on the popcorn. Marionette managed to calm down a bit, "I thought I was being so careful too… It was Foxy. He kept me awake all night singing." Anything to make him feel less mortified.

"I know how he sings," Mike pointed out. "Our pictures got back too. I haven't opened them yet." He didn't even have to point out the envelope in one of the bags. Marionette was instantly cured of his shock and was eagerly digging through the plastic bag until he found the envelope. He fought back the thought of Natalie seeing him, a horrifying thought, and opened the envelope in one fluid motion. Inside was a stack of pictures. Most of them were ones that Fritz had taken; pictures of the animatronics, of the Pizzeria, even pictures of the parking lot.

The back two were the pictures that Mike and Marionette had taken together. "The first one didn't make it," the puppet murmured with a noise of disapproval. Mike reached out, clearly wanting to see it, and he was handed it over. Around where Marionette was standing in the picture was a sort of distorted whiteness. Part of Mike made it through, but Marionette was completely gone. "But… This one looks perfect!" Marionette chimed in delight as he looked over the second photo. This time the distortion wasn't present in the slightest.

"I should show that to Natalie," Mike volunteered before looking for himself. Marionette couldn't deny the immediate uncomfortable feeling that overtook him. "Or maybe we'll just frame it and hang it up somewhere," Mike offered secondly, this being the more favored option. "Anyway, pick out which of those movies you want to start with. I'm pretty sure each of them is going to suck in one way or another," Mike pointed out matter-of-factly.

Marionette silently agreed and went to begin their evening. With absolutely nothing to go on except the name of the video, the videos didn't even have proper cases, Marionette randomly chose one and put it in. Mike had already appeared with the popcorn and was on the couch. Before Marionette could relax though, he found that he had to reassure himself on one fact.

"Mike, are you sure you want to do this? You could have gone out tonight. You don't have to be stuck with me," Marionette pointed out. He wasn't sure why this entire event was making him so self-conscious. Mike never gave any indication that he was unhappy with this choice, but Marionette found it still surprising. Mike used to always love

"I'm not stuck with you, Mari, I wanted to stay in with you," Mike insisted. "I changed my mind about going out. What am I really going to do anyway? I don't like people enough to mingle." This got a chime from Marionette. "I want to be here with you."

"Well…" Marionette rubbed his own arm. "I'm glad." He then moved to sit down on the couch. He folded his legs comfortably and relaxed, taking in the moment. Everything he needed was right here and Mike genuinely wanted to stay with him for the night. It was perfect… Except the movie. The movie was completely awful. It did rouse a few chuckles out of Mike at least. It was during one of these chuckles that Marionette realized he was paying much more attention to Mike than the movie.

Maybe he was reading too much into this. Mike just invoked a friendly or brotherly gesture to someone who he had become partners with. Simple, innocently straightforward, and yet Marionette found himself reaching for something more, found himself questioning it. It reminded him of the friendship between Fredbear and Bonnie on the 'Fredbear and Friends' cartoon that he watched so frequently. They were always helping each other, always spending time together. To the point where they seemed closer than anyone else.

Suddenly Marionette was interested in the season that he avoided so much. Sure, it would be difficult to watch, but could it be possible that their friendship would intensify? Would he be able to further compare his relationship with Mike to them? At least it would walk him through this a little better. It felt odd to be so close when even Goldie kept his distance. Goldie would've never gone to this much trouble to do something with so much inconsequence. Watching movies was purely for enjoyment; Goldie wasn't satisfied unless enjoyment also brought results.

And, to be honest… Goldie could be cold.

Marionette hadn't allowed himself to think about the bad times after Goldie moved on. It was too hard to think about him being gone period, so to think about him being gone and the more melancholic memories was simply too much. He just hadn't been able to face them. Now they returned; Marionette hid behind his smile and Mike's distraction and let them flow. While he owed everything to Goldie, and Goldie encouraged him greatly, he did get angry. He wasn't always patient and certain.

Goldie also showed little care for the other animatronics. At most, he treated them more like tools than anything else. Marionette knew about the grudge he held towards the four characters, but he suppressed his anger well. The only evidence at all that Goldie wasn't fully over it was his reluctance to interact with the others. When he wanted to direct then he went to the puppet, and then the puppet would lead the others. However, Marionette didn't usually invoke any frustration from Goldie, even when a mistake happened under him.

Except for one incident.

_Goldie had been firm about a night guard who he adamantly believed was the Purple Man. Though this wasn't the first time Goldie had suspected such, this time he seemed especially certain. So, it would only make sense that the animatronics would be told to give more. After all, it was Friday. This was their last chance to strike before the weekend worker came in. It had all made sense, had been precise enough that he himself planned to appear inside the office once they got close enough, to finish the job himself._

_Except that this had never happened. Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica had been especially slow, Balloon Boy couldn't get into the office, Foxy was even more sensitive to the flashlight than usual, neither of the Freddy characters could get to the office; it was a complete and total disaster. As though it couldn't get any worse, the 'Purple Man' spent the entire time on the phone. He wasn't even overly trying to stay alive and yet nothing could get a foothold into the office. Goldie was furious, but observant enough to notice something._

" _You were unwound." Any conversation that began with Goldie sounding this disappointed was sure to go in a sour direction. This time, however, the accusation was pointed at Marionette himself._

_He easily shrugged it off, "I didn't have time. Six arrived before I could even climb out of my box." Though he wasn't exactly rushing. To be entirely honest, this was the first time that Marionette did not believe their target was the Purple Man. As purple as he looked, something just seemed too familiar about him, so Marionette had toned it down._

" _I don't believe that," Goldie announced. "And now he waltzed out the front door. Who knows if he's going to work the night shift again. Out of everyone, I thought I could trust you to be reliable."_

_Marionette felt a sudden surge of guilt course through him. Goldie wouldn't look at him any longer and Marionette moved closer, "Goldie, I… I did try." Maybe this was a lie, but the puppet didn't think he failed that much. Goldie seemed so distraught that his plan didn't work and it made the striped animatronic feel worse. He reached out to touch him, to comfort him, to reassure him that he was here and was going to do better, but stopped when the other continued._

_"It's just not good enough." Marionette recoiled his hand as though struck or burned by the words. "You're just going to have to do better than this. I know you can do better than this" the other insisted. "They need you, you don't want to let them down." The puppet nodded slowly and pulled back, rubbing his arms in discomfort. He didn't expect to hear this; he thought he had been doing well enough that one slip wouldn't be that big of a deal. He didn't expect that Goldie would be this angry. There was anger too, even though Goldie's voice was quiet._

_"More children are at risk," Goldie continued. "And you waste too much time. You could've been out of that box in a moment, but you're forgetting what you're supposed to be doing. You're not here to entertain the kids, you're here to protect them." Marionette knew this, and still he found the other's sudden reprimand alarming, cold. He didn't know this being who just turned on him, he couldn't, because why would his friend say these things? Goldie had turned to face him now, but Marionette then turned away; he couldn't hide from the other's gaze._

_"Remember what brought you here. What your purpose is," Goldie reminded in a gentler tone. Though this time the words were in stark contrast to what he was feeling. With a stiff nod, he agreed, but he didn't speak. He didn't want to, he didn't even know if he could anymore. Slowly, he turned and started to leave. "And Mari..." the other added in. "They're counting on you." Marionette didn't respond, he just continued back into the Prize Corner. Though it wasn't as though he could shut out the voice. After all, he owed Goldie everything. He would do whatever was asked of him._

It had been the worst moment Marionette had with Goldie. Even Goldie moving on hadn't left Marionette feeling as worthless as he had then. He had been entirely berated and, while he did go easy on the night guard, it just felt like it had been too much. After then, he had been careful not to disappoint Goldie. He had moved quicker, he focused harder, and he stopped letting night guards off the hook. Not that it mattered much; soon afterwards the toy animatronics were recalled and Marionette was no longer left on the floor.

He hadn't intended to ruin his evening with Mike thinking about Goldie. Not when Mike had done so much. Though it was quite a revelation to realize that he felt much more comfortable, much closer, and more relaxed with Mike. It was a terrible thought, but maybe he was happier with Mike. It felt like a betrayal above all else. Goldie had been his best friend… But Mike had bypassed it. He didn't know what it was, but he couldn't ignore what had been happening. He had become close to him. Maybe he was too close.

Marionette slumped over against Mike's shoulder. The security guard glanced to him with a quizzical expression, but Marionette didn't retract himself. "I'm not losing you already, am I?" Mike teased and took another bite of popcorn. The animatronic turned into his shoulder.

"No. I'm fine," that was all Marionette said. He didn't need to say anything more. Mike still looked confused, but didn't push the animatronic away. He didn't even tense; he just continued to eat popcorn and watch the movie. Slowly Marionette returned to his previous mood before thinking about Goldie. Something about being allowed to be so close to Mike erased the memories entirely. He still struggled to focus on the film, but it started to get better the further he calmed back down. At least he had this contact.

Eventually Mike got bored of the popcorn and shifted his arm to drape behind Marionette on the back of the couch. It wasn't exactly any sort of direct message, but it gave Marionette the signal that he wasn't in the way. This was more than Goldie could give. Whether or not Marionette could admit that he cared for Mike more, he could certainly admit one, cold fact.

He was happier with Mike than he ever was with Goldie.

* * *

It felt weird doing this. Natalie normally would've never even considered it, but she still wanted to have the night off. Mike hadn't been up to it, deciding to return home to arrange something with Marionette. This didn't bother Natalie. On the contrary, seeing Mike so determined to do something for someone else made her happy. For the time they worked together, Mike had never been one to go out of his way to do something special for someone else. He had never portrayed himself as the type to get sentimental.

There was another person she could ask, but she hesitated to dial the number. It was going to be awkward, he would find her weird, but she found herself dialing the number anyway. The phone rang a couple of times and half of her wished that he wouldn't answer the phone. However, he did answer.

"Hello?" he asked over the line. He sounded welcoming; it didn't sound like she interrupted him from something.

"Hey, it's Natalie. Umm… I was going to hang out with Mike, but he decided to head home to Mari, so… I was wondering- and I know this might be a little weird- but would you like to go out and get something to eat? Or we could, I don't know, catch a movie or something." Natalie took Mike's own idea and offered it to the man. There was a moment of silence. A long moment where he was considering it or stuck in surprise.

"…Yeah, okay. I'd like that. Should I pick you up somewhere?" he certainly did sound surprised, but Natalie could only feel relief.

"Oh, no, I'm in my car still. How about I meet you over there? We'll figure out what we'll see once we get there," she suggested. She felt an eager smile of success passing her lips.

"Sounds like a plan! I'll be there-," she could hear him shuffling around something metal on a desk, "-I'll be there in a few minutes, if I can find my keys."

Natalie lightly snickered at his flustered tone. "I'll see you there!... And, uh, Fritz? Thanks."

* * *

It the few weeks following the incident at Afton Robotics', things had gone a bit quicker in pace. Mike slowly got better over the time. Even though he was still dealing with muscle soreness and had to be careful straining himself, and the closing wound had yet to close all the way, the pain was starting to recede more every day. This meant that he could start returning to normal activities. He no longer took medication, but still was going to physical therapy to make sure the muscle continued to repair. Every step was closer to recovery.

Mike's improving health had contributed to the Pizzeria greatly as well. Over this time there had been one more birthday to practice with, which went well, and the Pizzeria itself had been worked on further. More machines for the arcade were brought in, the fake track was fully put in, and Fritz had finally managed to find a company willing and able create merchandise for the restaurant. With all said and done, with almost everything finished and funds needing to come in, Pirate Foxy's Pizza finally opened its doors.

The first day started out relatively easy. Only two birthday parties had been scheduled for the opening day, but plenty of children had gotten curious enough to patronize the business on the first day. This would've normally been overwhelming for a business that consisted of only three workers. Though it quickly became apparent that, without the restraints that Freddy's had placed on them, Foxy and Marionette were intending to completely overtake the situation. Foxy made it very apparent that he would not stay on his stage.

With Fritz stuck in the kitchen and Jeremy skittering around trying to keep everything in place, Mike was left with the role as security guard yet again. Marionette had noticed though that he vanished at one point during the busy day. The puppet had been out in the party room while Mike was there, but the moment he was gone he found himself retreating into the Prize Corner. This was a sort of defense mechanism on his own part; he needed a minute to breathe. Thankfully, the children were mostly distracted with Foxy.

They came to Marionette exclusively for ticket exchange and prize collection, though few children had yet to collect enough tickets for prizes. The Prize Corner itself was glorious; or it was in Marionette's opinion. Foxy plush toys lined some of the shelves, hung from the ceiling, and came in three different styles; normal Foxy, pirate hat Foxy, and gold colored Foxy. Why Foxy had a gold version of him, Marionette didn't know. There were also a few plush toys that resembled himself, one of which he had already stashed in his box to take home later, but that paled in amount to the foxes.

There were also T-shirts, hats, small trinkets, candy, pizza and cake vouchers, and much more. It felt crowded and Marionette loved it. Because of short staffing, Marionette also managed making the balloons. These would also be passed out or exchanged for, and a cluster of them were already tied out of the way to be retrieved for later. Returning to his box was a relief, though Marionette didn't close himself inside. He instead stayed idle, half out of the box, waiting for either another child or for one of the birthday celebrations to require him.

"-But this is just the first day, so we don't expect this every day," Mike could be heard talking outside the door. Marionette was perplexed to hear that the security guard had returned, but was pleased to know he was nearby. This made him more comfortable when a small group of kids eagerly hustled in to exchange tickets for prizes. Only one of those kids decided to leave and continue saving his tickets. The rest of them were much too overeager to spend their tickets on trinkets and candy.

Marionette hadn't noticed until they left that there was someone peeking in the doorway. To his delight, it was the young girl who he had met before, who he had once scared in her bedroom. As expected, she shyly peeked in at him. He had to lure her in with a basket of chocolate coins, offering her some of the free candy that he was allowed to give out. The girl moved in closer and took a couple of them tentatively. Marionette chimed happily at her tiny smile and looked upwards just in time to feel a jolt. The basket of coins slipped from his fingers.

Outside the room, there was Mike leading none other than Natalie around the Pizzeria. Mike had been trying to get Marionette to meet Natalie since she revealed what she knew, but the puppet had cleverly slid out of any opportunity. There was always an excuse that he could muster. This time Mike seemed to have noticed as this was a total ambush. He knew it was only a matter of time before they arrived at the Prize Corner.

Upon looking down, Marionette realized he dropped the candy and he began to reach down to get it. The girl silently helped, kneeling on the tiles and scooping up the pieces. It was short work and once they had raised again, Marionette insistently offered the girl more candy. She seemed reluctant at first, but eventually took another coin. After a few moments of standing there, she directed her attention to the plush toys. "How much for those?" the girl squeaked out. Her voice was very soft, very unsure, but he could hear it fine.

He gestured over to where a display tag was. A Foxy hung over it, so he nudged it back out of the way, letting her see the amount of tickets needed. Which was a little steeper than Marionette would have preferred. He understood why it had to be though, with the Pizzeria just starting and needing a higher incentive. She got a small smile, gave a quiet 'alright', and hurried out of the Prize Corner. Marionette would've surely offered her a few free tokens, but she left too quickly, and suddenly his eyes were on the doorway.

He swore Mike looked smug standing there. Probably because Marionette couldn't actually flee from the room unless he teleported, which he wasn't able to do being that it was still a busy day. The security guard moved in a few steps and, as expected, Natalie followed him in. The puppet immediately went still, stuck in his default pose. He couldn't move, though he didn't really want to move anyway. Natalie looked more uncomfortable than he did, perhaps a little afraid, and he fought the urge to abruptly teleport away.

Though it almost instantly got worse when he realized he had used his telekinesis in front of the young girl, and neither he nor her noticed. That sudden shock was almost enough to dull the alarm of having Mike waltz in with Natalie.

"This is the Prize Corner. It's self-explanatory; kids come in and get prizes," Mike explained as he moved closer to the box. "This is the Marionette animatronic. He doesn't speak when he's on the clock, so he's just going to stiffly smile at you. I'd tug at his strings, but I'm the one taking him home later," Mike teased before looking to him and winking. Winking as though he thought this was a joke. Between that and the situation he was in, Marionette felt like he was in some sort of nightmare, slowly turning his head to stare at Mike.

"Occasionally you get some slight movement out of him," Mike pointed out matter-of-factly, resting a hand on the edge of the box. "…After we close, you'll be able to get more acquainted… Which is a lucky break. Getting this far involved me having to come in for work." This time Natalie gave a strained giggle, trying to be polite but clearly unsure what to say or do.

"Alright, so let me show you the kitchen," Mike announced to break the tension. He began to lead her back out of the Prize Corner, pausing in the doorway and sending Marionette a more thankful smile. Then they were gone. Yet Marionette did not feel better. He was still restless, driven, and knew that he couldn't just hide away in the Prize Corner. He slid out of his box and approached the doorway.

He didn't know what Mike was planning, but he could almost guarantee that it wouldn't work.


	36. Chapter 36

The Pizzeria was still buzzing with activity as Mike opened the door into the kitchen. "This is where the magic happens…" Mike had begun, but then stopped at the scene. The pantry was open, most of the stuff inside had been dragged out, and Fritz was hunched over in the doorway with a flashlight in his hands. "…And then hits the fan. What's going on?"

"She's in here somewhere," Fritz murmured as he shined the light around. With a huff, he pulled back and looked over, "Jeremy brought that thing- Natalie! Uh, hey, I didn't think you were coming by." Fritz was clearly caught off guard by the look on his face. Mike found his surprise odd, but didn't ask.

Natalie smiled back with a small wave, "Yeah, small world. Just learning the ropes." She took a glance towards Mike, as though gauging his reaction.

"Please tell me that Jeremy didn't bring the Minireena here," Mike muttered in clear exasperation.

"Then I won't tell you," Fritz quipped back and started to stand. "I cornered her in here somewhere. Could you look? I've got to go check on the pizza."

"Sure. This is what I get paid for," Mike agreed, catching the flashlight that Fritz tossed over to him. He then started to search through the pantry while Natalie helped Fritz with the pizza. The second he shined the light in the back, he was alerted by a soft giggling. "Jeremy's got to put a leash on this thing," Mike murmured to himself and then stepped over the dragged-out things and into the pantry. It didn't take too long to find Minireena back in the corner, hiding behind an unopened jar of pizza sauce. He got it around the middle and it fussily struggled in his grasp.

"Alright, here she is," Mike announced, toting the Minireena out. It fidgeted and fussed in disturbance at being held, kicking its legs and trying to pry off his tight grip. "Is there a place I can put her?"

"I'm about two minutes away from pulling Jeremy in here. He can figure it out," Fritz remarked as he continued to work. He was clearly not pleased with being stuck in the kitchen cooking the entire day. He could be heard murmuring, "We're hiring a chef. I don't care if I have to pay with my share; we're hiring a chef."

"She sort of looks like Mari," Natalie pointed out as she looked at the struggling ballerina.

"She does, but there's no relation," Mike explained as he watched her struggle. "…Though I would probably tote him around like this if he started having a tantrum." He gave a playful smirk. Natalie seemed to catch that it was a joke. Fritz just decided to give Mike an odd look.

As luck would have it, Jeremy popped into the kitchen at this moment. He went for the fridge and one of the birthday cakes that Marionette previously made. He came to a sudden halt as he noticed Mike standing with Minireena. The security guard lifted the doll and raised a brow in curiousness. Jeremy gave an awkward smile, "I, uh… I had to bring her in with me."

"For that, you're on kitchen duty," Fritz suddenly announced, still cutting a pizza apart. This followed with Mike tossing the small ballerina into Jeremy hands, where he then nearly coddled her close to him. He then promptly sat her down on a nearby counter, giving her almost firm directions to stay there, and continued to grab the birthday cake out of the fridge and removing the plastic from it.

"I can see why you need a few more staff members," Natalie replied in a flat, but amused way. Indeed, watching these three guys scrambling around, or two guys while Mike pointedly stood out of the way, was at least a little funny to her. "If you do need a cook I could try to find one, but with the…  _Situation_ with the animatronics, it'll not be as easy." Both Mike and Fritz knew that Natalie knew about the animatronics; Jeremy hesitated for a moment, but seeing the lack of reaction went along with it.

"Yeah, we could use all the help we could get. As long as they leave before closing," Jeremy added in with a lopsided smile as he pushed open the kitchen door. It immediately struck someone on the other side. He frantically looked to the other side, "Are you okay?! I didn't even-!" It only made it worse to realize that it was Marionette instead of a child, and he was clearly checking his face. "-I didn't even see you there! Are you okay?!"

Puppet waved him off, unable to speak in plain sight, and moved back under the track. He could only hope that Jeremy hadn't noticed that he was eavesdropping. His attention quickly shifted to the cake in the man's hands.

Jeremy glanced down at it as well, "It's birthday cake for party one... Uh…" He suddenly noticed the complete lack of candles topping it and offered it. "Could you just- for a moment?"

The Puppet slowly reached forwards and took the cake into his hands. Jeremy turned and headed into the kitchen while the animatronic, doing his job, immediately turned and followed the track towards the table. None of the children were actually sitting at the designated table any longer. They had eaten their pizza and now were enwrapped around Foxy, who was wandering around the room. Marionette had to physically block Foxy's path to get his attention; it only occurred to him now that his lack of voice on the floor would be a problem.

He had become too comfortable speaking, he supposed, but thankfully Foxy caught on abruptly. Cake, birthday party, kids; it all sunk in immediately.

"Aye, look lad! The birthday cake be arriving!" Foxy pointed out to the birthday boy, who stood out by the golden pom-pom on the top of his party hat. Foxy then looked to Marionette and, as casually as could be, remarked, "Hand over yer booty or walk the plank."

Marionette held back a chime at the remarkably straight way that Foxy had commanded him. Instead he began to chime in the tune of 'Happy Birthday', offering the cake. Some of the kids joined in eagerly, wanting to rush through and get to the chocolate cake presented before them. Foxy didn't sing, which was a relief as Marionette expected the Pirate Song to make its inappropriate return. Then again, the Pirate Song had never really been appropriate on the best days.

What followed was the sound of rapid footsteps followed by Jeremy stabbing a couple of candles into the top of the cake. He then fumbled with a lighter, rushing to light the candles before the song ending. Foxy couldn't emote much considering the scenario, but smugness was nearly pouring off him as Jeremy finally lit the candles and disappeared a few steps back. Marionette lowered the cake and watched as the boy blew out his candles. There was clapping, the boy's mother seemed to suddenly appear, and Marionette laid the cake down on the table.

He moved back and allowed Jeremy to step in and cut the pieces for the kids. With Jeremy doing the work, Foxy standing in as animatronic, and the mother being close enough that he couldn't let his guard down, Marionette decided to back out of the situation. Fritz was currently serving the other party their pizza, so he didn't directly want to approach them either. Thankfully, Mike and Natalie were still in the kitchen, so he didn't have to watch himself under the female's gaze. However, this did bring up the very peculiar question of why they were taking so long in the kitchen.

Part of him was almost ready to go listen at the door, or randomly teleport in from the Prize Corner and hope that it wasn't in Natalie's line of sight. Just knowing that they were in there doing something he couldn't see was, for lack of a better term, annoying.

This was immediately ignored when he noticed a fuss over in the arcade. Following the track over to the game area, he could see a group of three children standing around the crane game. At first, he just assumed that one of the children got frustrated with the game. The closer he got, however, the more he realized that it was a different situation entirely. They noticed him approaching and began to frantically explain. The two younger children talked too fast to understand, but the older boy who had been manning the crane game made the problem abundantly clear.

"Foxy's stuck, and it won't come down!" he voiced with disappointment. The crane game was a borrowed machine, so measurements weren't exactly taken. Thus, the Foxy plush sitting on top of the chute was a clear oversight. Technically the boy did win it, so the Puppet took this very seriously. There was nothing more disheartening than unhappy children. It wasn't good for business, morale, or simply in general. He laid his hands on the side of the machine and tried to give it a light shake.

The kids were watching closely, so telekinesis would not work in this situation. Not with the way that Foxy's overstuffed body sat on the chute. It didn't even flinch when he nudged it and Marionette considered his options. Eventually he came with a desperate, but more excusable one. He checked to make sure nobody was watching and, thankfully, any adults or parents were not paying attention. He started to let out his strings more and lowered down further, resting in a kneel on the floor. Then he started to reach inside.

The kids tried to help, they really did, with confused directions about what he needed to do. Marionette simply followed the inside of the chute upwards until his fingers brushed something soft. It had been remarkably easy and he went to pull it out. It was then that a completely different problem decided to appear. One that he knew would lead to more work than he had wanted. His shoulder wouldn't move; his string caught on something on the entrance to the crane game.

Marionette was now stuck.

Though mostly by his limited abilities while being watched. He considered his situation carefully; the kids were anxious and he needed them distracted so that he could work this out. He nudged the plush down with his hand and, once it was out of sight from the kids, tugged it with his telekinesis. He then grabbed it with his free hand and handed it over. The boy was thrilled, giving a quick 'thank you' and rushing off to show his parents. The younger kids followed him away. Now, perhaps, he could try to free himself.

His string has somehow caught itself in the metal seam right inside of the chute. Marionette wasn't going anywhere fast.

He dropped his head against the crane game, mentally berating himself for the awful idea of reaching in. At least the children were happy. It was when he stopped and listened that he noticed concerned chattering from a young girl nearby. It sounded like the girl who he knew from earlier, and it sounded like she was telling someone he was stuck. He could always count on her, he supposed, and he waited for either Jeremy or Fritz to free him from his prison. That was, until he noticed that both were still at the tables.

"I'm not going to lie; I was pretty much expecting something like this."

Marionette's head was back against the crane game. Of the few times that he didn't want to see Mike- and worse still it meant that Natalie was probably nearby too. It was a lose-lose situation, especially when Mike's flat comment sounded just a little too amused. The security guard crouched down beside him.

"Let's see what you got yourself stuck on…" Mike murmured as he coaxed the Puppet to lean forward. There was a clear smirk, but it was obvious that he did intend to free Marionette quickly. He almost immediately saw the issue and tried to work the string out, but it was not willingly releasing. It wasn't long before Mike had a solution; Marionette had completely given up on ideas once Mike got involved. He was just glad that he couldn't visibly blush… And if he could, he had paint already covering it.

"I'm going to 'release your strings' so you can pull this back in," Mike quietly murmured to him before standing and working with the track. Or, more so, pretending to detach Marionette's strings so that nobody noticed anything. Thankfully, he couldn't feel many sets of eyes on him, so Marionette assumed only a few people were watching. He nearly felt his body go rigid, but knew he had to fight it as he was supposed to stay entirely limp. He retracted his strings quickly and he was soon free, but now he couldn't move.

"I'm going to make an announcement and while I do that, you can reset- eh…" Mike instantly lost interest in his own plan. "Tell you what, I'll just tote you over to the Prize Corner."

Marionette's confidence was knocked down a few steps, but he also took a sort of peculiar interest in the idea. There was a more sadistic pleasure in it too. As Mike lifted him, slipping an arm behind his back and under his legs, he relished in the thought that he was keeping Mike away from Natalie. Mike was basically slacking on work to wander around with her; at least this counted as maintenance. And, again, Marionette never argued with an excuse to be held. It was hard to deny the joy of physical contact.

Mike brought him over to the Prize Corner; Marionette felt them pass Natalie on the way. Once inside, the security guard set him down. "Alright, time to get 'back on track'," Mike assumed that Marionette would be amused by the wording. Instead, the Puppet looked completely unamused. "...What's going on? Is this the silent treatment or are you still in character?" Mike already knew the answer, but Marionette's glare punctuated it further.

"Okay, you're upset about Natalie, but you had no intention of meeting her willingly and you know how tight we're running on staff. We need her to work here, she wants to work here, and this was the only scenario of getting the wheels turning," Mike went straight to the point.

"She makes me uncomfortable," Marionette protested in a low volume.

"Everyone makes you uncomfortable, Mari," Mike pointed out matter-of-factly. "And I know you don't like strangers, but Natalie is the closest thing we have to someone you know…" The male exhaled slowly, blue eyes glancing to the side, and then continued. "How about we make a deal? I don't want to have to do this, but… Meet Natalie," Mike began with, "and if you're still uncomfortable then we'll find someone else."

The suggestion was a complete shock to Marionette. He didn't expect Mike to back down, let alone to give him such power in this decision. "You… Would let me do that?"

"I swear," Mike swore, "but only if you actually meet her and make that decision afterwards."

"No strings attached?" Marionette continued, playing with words only slightly.

This got a slight smile out of Mike. "None whatsoever." He then crossed over towards the doorway, which in and of itself roused another reaction out of the striped animatronic.

"You don't have to go just yet, do you?" Marionette asked without thinking. "…By which I mean- Could you just stay here while I get 'back on track'?"

"I was planning on it. Just wanted to keep an eye out," Mike explained and peered out. "It's a madhouse out there. Bet Fritz wishes he was back in the kitchen now…" He smirked slightly, but then perked and looked back. "Hey, it's almost gift time, right? You're still going to take out the birthday presents to the kids, right?" He did seem moderately curious, as though the events earlier would stop him.

Embarrassed or not, nothing would stop Marionette from delivering gifts to children. "Course I am! I already have them ready to take out-," he latches his strings onto the track and then moved over to behind his box, "-back here. I didn't want any of the children seeing them before they were ready." He lifted one of the gifts; it being the familiar white wrapping with a red ribbon, as he was prone to wrapping.

"I think they're about ready now. Birthday boy's done with the cake and is starting to look a little antsy. He's probably about to bail from the table," Mike suggested as he watched Marionette bring out the proper gift. This, of course, was the one provided by the Pizzeria. The other gifts were on a gift table in the dining room. Marionette still clung to it as though it was the only gift, and, even with the commotion, Mike noticed that the puppet did look happy. Doing this simple task still made Marionette happy. "They're waiting for you."

"You just want a distraction so that you don't get sent to the kitchen," the Puppet playfully accused as he passed by Mike. He then braced himself briefly, hearing Mike give a brief, "You better believe it," and then headed out to deliver the birthday present. Giving that gift, like giving most gifts, felt overwhelmingly fulfilling to Marionette. He had forgotten how wonderful it was to do what he was made for.

But it couldn't last forever. Closing time snuck up quicker than he had expected. Shockingly, it was signaled by the arrival of a familiar face.

"Hi," the small girl who admired Marionette crept back into the Prize Corner. He was thrilled to see her, though surprised that she stuck around as long as she had. Come to think of it; he hadn't noticed her parents anywhere. Which was odd considering that they had been so concerned, or at least the mother had been, the night that she screamed. He decided not to dwell on it and instead dwelled on the many tickets she had brought into the room.

He wasn't exactly surprised that she could acquire a mass of tickets such as she did. Hours of playing games would naturally bring around the tickets. From the sheer amount of tickets, it seemed that she had more than enough money to pay for the tokens. Marionette eagerly took the tickets and counted through them while the girl approached the counter.

"Can I get one of those?" she quietly inquired as she pointed at the group of plush toys. Marionette took a moment to answer as he carefully checked over the tickets and deposited them inside his box. She had enough for the small ones, and even leftover tickets afterwards. He eagerly slipped out of his box and over to the wall of prizes. He pointed to a Foxy and looked at her with a tilt of the head.

"N-No… The other one," the girl pointed out further. Marionette pointed at the next variation of Foxy plush. "No," she stretched out with clear embarrassment. "The one that looks like  _you._ "

He couldn't tell if it was pride or joy, or even both, but Marionette didn't hesitate in yanking one of the plush toys off the shelf and eagerly handing it over. He was chiming in excitement, unable to stop the eager sound of the ringing as he watched her accept and hold her new toy. It was the first time anyone had wanted merchandise of himself and it felt so good. He pet her head and, while she jumped at first, she then smiled once more. She wasn't uncomfortable with him and this truly made him happy.

When she left, she was still hugging the doll as she waved goodbye, taking what was left of her tickets with her. Marionette eagerly waved back and watched her head out into the party room. He almost followed to make sure that she had parents to come get her, but was stopped when her place was taken by someone else.

There was Natalie, again, standing in the doorway. He had no doubt that Mike probably nudged her in there; mostly from the hesitant look on her face. Of course he would do it, as Mike and his deal still stood. One of them was going home with their dignity in shambles and this would… No, Marionette knew for a fact that it was his own dignity that had been shaken today.

"Hey! Uh… Just coming to check in," Natalie tied to sound casual as she stepped inside the Prize Corner. Her eyes were going everywhere except for onto him. "So, umm… This is a really nice place. It looks really professional, considering that you just opened." A few kids and a father passed the door, Fritz following with the keys to lock the front door. Now he would normally be able to fall out of character, except for Natalie. "A lot of prizes, too… That's pretty neat." Natalie's small talk was, at least, better than Jeremy's.

"…You don't have to talk if you're uncomfortable about it. I know I'm sort of a stranger, and I wouldn't even be bothering you if it wasn't for Mike nudging me," Natalie explained almost apologetically. This almost helped him feel less awkward. Though something immediately changed when she changed the subject. Looking at the wall of plush toys, she smiled and gave a new remark. "My cousin has a plush from the old Freddy's. It's Bonnie the bunny, but he's a light blue color."

That was what did it. That single sentence sealed both of their fates.

"That would be Toy Bonnie. The Toy line of animatronics all had plush toys, except myself, which were sold in slightly bigger forms. Now, Toy Bonnie only came in one style, but the original Bonnie came with and without the guitar, and in an Easter themed form. Freddy had multiple versions, naturally; Valentine's, Halloween, Christmas, normal, gold, black and white, and rainbow. There was a discontinued Balloon Boy plush with button eyes. The glue on the buttons was more than a little shoddy, so it was replaced with the all fabric Balloon Boy plush. This didn't sell very well, but the Foxy plush toys always did. There were actually five variations of Foxy at the time and they flew off the shelves. However, they had a habit of losing their hooks. This could be fixed by extra stitches added on the seam where the hook would meet the arm. Then there was Chica, who had four variations and both a Valentine's and Christmas version. Being the only female, she sold very well and was…"

By time Marionette had gotten control of himself, minutes had been lost to him babbling about plush toys. He barely realized that he had dropped his dead silence towards Natalie to lecture on stuffed animals, not actually realizing it until he had noticed that, at some point, Mike appeared in the doorway. The last of his dignity was sacrificed for a history on pointless Prize Corner knowledge.

Mike didn't even bother moving when Marionette abruptly cut off. He did raise a brow, as though questioning whether or not the Puppet would continue. By this point, Marionette assumed that he had done enough. He looked to Natalie, who hadn't spoke at all during his sporadic decision to teach, and then just turned and silently retreated to his box.

"Oh, you don't have to leave!" Natalie called after him. "I thought it was really interesting!" However, the striped male slid into his box and closed it behind him.

Mike now stepped in, "It's me, not you. I broke his concentration." He playfully remarked before crossing to the box and tapping on it. "If you've got anything to do, then you need to finish now. Once we get this place clean, I'm leaving, with or without you," he joked lightly. Though he was partially serious. Mike intended to leave as quickly as possible. He was starting to feel soreness in his back and knew that it was past time to replace his bandage. He looked to Natalie, "Ready to meet Foxy?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Natalie responded and followed him out. Honestly, she was a little less nervous meeting Foxy than she was meeting Marionette. After that odd display, she wasn't as concerned with the Puppet though. In the party room, Fritz was fiddling with an envelope, looking confused, and Jeremy was trying to juggle Minireena while cleaning cake from Foxy's arm.

"You've got to stop provoking them, Foxy," Jeremy quietly murmured. "How- How can this keep happening?" He sighed and nudged Minireena back, who was now climbing on his shoulder.

Foxy reached out and nudged the small ballerina with his hook, "Ya can always expect kids to get rowdy." He was talking about the kids but perhaps this could've been used for Minireena as well. The small doll didn't seem too comfortable with Foxy and stared him down. "Ya did good, lad! No wonder you be me first mate!" Foxy decided to praise with a heavy pat on the shoulder. Jeremy could only hope that it wouldn't bruise. They both noticed when Mike and Natalie approached.

"Foxy, this is Natalie. She already met Mari, so she already knows everything she needs to know," Mike brought to speed and then looked to Fritz. "What's that?"

"Ominous envelope," Fritz remarked.

"Probably for the rent," Mike murmured back, then shifted his attention on the others. He just assumed the envelope was nothing. "…If it's anything more serious, let me know." Fritz nodded, but seemed unbothered. He went to start cleaning in the meantime.

Foxy immediately introduced himself to Natalie. In a way, Jeremy was sort of surprised at his boldness around a new person. "It's a pleasure, Lass," Foxy introduced with a slight bow. "Captain Foxy be the title, and this be me ship…" He dramatically spread his arms and turned to direct one at the stage.

Mike coughed and casually added in, "She's seen better days, Cap'n." He then turned and started to clean off the tables, assisting Fritz who set the envelope aside for a moment. Unfortunately, the kids had left a mess in their wake. "We should've locked the doors and made the parents get this," Mike muttered to Fritz who gave a sigh of agreement. Jeremy moved to help, but Foxy suddenly decided not to let him go.

"Where ya goin', Lad? Ya haven't even introduced yourself!" Foxy encouraged and caught Jeremy's arm with his hook. Jeremy only stopped on a dime because he was afraid that the fox's sharp claw would tear through his shirt and flesh in one fell swoop.

"Foxy, I  _know_ Natalie. We met a while back," Jeremy responded matter-of-factly. Minireena, still on his shoulders, suddenly became disinterested and hopped down onto a table. She scurried away, knocking over a stack of dirty paper plates in her wake. "No, Daisy, come back…!"

"He already named it," Mike murmured under his breath to Fritz. He didn't expect Fritz to return it with an amused smile.

"You named yours," Fritz quipped. Mike slowly looked over with a flat look. "Oh, come on. You walked straight into that and you know it."

"One more word and you're cleaning this alone," Mike promised. However, this was soon disproven as Natalie stepped in to help in Jeremy's stead- he and Foxy were soon searching the kitchen for Minireena. It didn't take too long to finish. Eventually Marionette passed through into the kitchen and assisted the two already in there. By the end of the evening the kitchen was clean, Minireena was again caught, and with one last farewell Foxy was behind his curtain. Jeremy left soon afterwards.

Fritz decided to do a once over of the Pizzeria, and put away the funds, while Mike and Natalie went to leave. It was a cold night and Mike was feeling his muscle ache further, but he didn't want to leave without clarifying a few things. "So, is this going to work for you? It's… Hectic… But we could really use another hand if you're willing."

There was absolutely no doubt in Natalie's voice, "If I can handle splitting the night shift with you, then I can handle you here." She followed with a smile and a much brighter, "I'll be here tomorrow morning for opening. You should be careful driving home… Is Mari staying here?"

"He's already in the car," Mike pointed out. "And I'm not making any promises. I intend to drive the speed limit and swerve over both lanes." She gave a chuckle at the comment and started heading towards her car. Once she was safely inside he headed to his own car to head home. Some part of Mike forced him to make sure she got in the car alright, as though he wasn't alone out there, but he simply assumed it was his many years as a security guard making him uncomfortable.

Either way, he would feel better getting home.

* * *

Finally, Fritz was done. He rubbed his head tiredly and fumbled with the envelope. This was the last bit of business to attend to. He opened it and unfolded the letter inside. He expected a business letter or something, but instead it was a handwritten note. His eyes scanned it over. Then they scanned it over again. By the third time he realized exactly how confusing this letter was. It was as though someone was trying to meet with him, but it bounced back and forth between friendly and distant terms.

He didn't trust the words. He didn't trust the address at the bottom. Before he could consider any other options, he brings out his phone to get a second opinion.

* * *

" _Why would Chipper betray us?! Betray the village?!"_

" _Bonnie, that isn't our friend in there! And the village… We'll have to find a new home."_

Marionette was almost relieved when Mike's cell began to ring. He paused the video, fully regretting his decision to watch this season, and headed over to the table to answer the phone. Mike was in the bedroom, so he skipped the middle man and answered with the human's voice. "Hello?"

"Mike, it's me," Fritz answered. He sounded concerned about something and added in, "I need your opinion on this letter. There's something a little- I don't even know what this is."

Knowing it was Fritz, he immediately dropped the act. "Give me a moment. He's in the other room," Marionette spoke and then went to find Mike. Fritz let out a confused 'huh', but then caught on. Marionette knew what Mike's reaction would be if he realized that he was faking his voice to answer calls. He didn't want to give the security guard the wrong impression; it was simply quicker this way. Clutching the phone tightly, he teleported into the bedroom. "Mike, Fritz is on…" He cut off for only a moment.

At first, he thought he caught Mike at the worst possible time, seeing that Mike was not wearing a shirt. However, it became apparent quickly that he was changing his bandage. Still, it wasn't as though Marionette frequently saw him without his clothes on- at least without his shirt on- so he did get slightly flustered by it. Just enough to hesitate, but no more than that, "It's Fritz."

Mike raised a brow and reached for the cell phone, which Marionette handed over. The human tucked it against his shoulder so that he could try and keep bandaging his wound. "Hello?... What's going on?" He knew immediately that something had to be off. Unfortunately, his plan didn't work and he hand to hold the cell phone. It was moments like this that he missed having a house phone that was easier to balance without having to move too much.

Marionette didn't leave the room. Instead, he moved a little closer and studied the revealed wound on his back. It wasn't nearly as bad as it had been, but it was still visible. He knelt on the bed and reached forwards towards the set aside bandage.

"So, I opened the ominous envelope and inside is an equally ominous letter," Fritz explained as he looked over the note. "It says some weird stuff about the old Pizzeria… Or just mentions it, which is weird enough on its own. 'Smart decision to reopen without using the Freddy name'. I can tell if this is an actual compliment or what this is." He set the paper back down, "The whole thing's written like we're just old pen pals or something. Then, best part, asks me to meet them at a random address."

"What, to ambush you? I swear, these murderers are getting lazier and lazier," Mike quipped back. Joking aside, this did seem rather concerning. "It isn't just a letter from Glenn, is it?"

"Glenn would've signed the letter," Fritz pointed out. "Anyone not being purposely vague would've signed the letter. That… Raised some flags."

"Look, as long as you don't go anywhere you're fine. Just don't go-." Mike abruptly cut off in reaction as he felt movement against his wound. He flinched and looked back, only to watch as Marionette slowly applied the bandage to his skin. He smoothly massaged the patch down, making sure that it fully stuck to the wound. Mike exhaled in instant relief and mouthed a quick 'thank you'. "Don't go to the address. It sounds like an awful trap… Or a prank. Either way, don't fall for it."

"Right…" Fritz stared at the letter again. "…There's just something, one thing. Uh… Let me read this to you." He glanced it over once more. "It says, 'I need to speak with you about some things. Just past things, nothing concerning. Just something important from a long time ago. Nothing to really worry about. Here's my address; just knock loudly in case I'm in the back.' Does any of this make sense? It's important, it's not important. It's about the past, it's about some things. This is… You're right." He gave a slow exhale and finished, "This doesn't make sense. It's probably a prank."

"Or a murderer. We might have already acquired a stalker or something. Isn't that a great opportunity on our first day of business?" Mike tried to ease the mood, but in reality, he feared the worst. "Just don't go over there, alright?"

"I'm not, I'm heading home," Fritz explained. "I'll see you tomorrow. Remind Mari that we need two more cakes and a dozen cupcakes."

"He'll handle it, don't worry," Mike insisted as he glanced over towards Marionette, who was still staring at his back. "See you then. Stay safe and go home." Mike soon ended the call and set his phone onto the bedside stand. Suddenly he wondered if that feeling he had in the parking lot was something more than just a hunch, but he tried to push it into the back of his mind. It sounded more like someone who knew something than a prank, but he didn't trust either scenario very much.

Mike now turned his focus onto the animatronic beside him. It was seldom that the striped male would grow so still, especially after such an exciting day, but he wasn't even asking questions about the call. Mike took note of this, "Thanks for that… Is something wrong?"

"Mike…" Marionette began, staring at the covered wound on Mike's back. Just staring at it reminded him of the danger Mike had been put into so recently. He had almost died that night and yet just today the Puppet was throwing a tantrum over nothing. His feelings towards Natalie or not, Mike more than earned his chance to choose. "I'm… I'm sorry about earlier. I was unfair to Natalie and, most importantly, I was unfair to you."

Mike shrugged a little, seemingly unbothered, and continued moving to put a shirt on. "It's not a big deal, Mari. If you would've been that upset, then I would've explained to Natalie that it wouldn't work. Natalie's a nice girl; she wouldn't hold a grudge. She can find another job; the goal is to find someone who you're comfortable with." He noticed that Marionette had yet to give a judgement call, but assumed that the lack of one brought its own response.

"But why?" Marionette murmured in a slight challenge. "Mike, you've always had the business' best interest in mind. I'm only a part of this, a lesser part, so why would you risk that over something so… petty?" His quietness in tone revealed more of his apology. His shame was clear in his voice.

"Because," Mike turned back to him with an amused smirk. He was going to joke, Marionette knew this, but he didn't expect the security guard's answer. "You're the one I'm coming home with."

It was so simple, so reassuring, but it was as though it emotionally sunk into his fabric and grasped at his strings from the inside. Such a severe tightening inside his fabric for no discernable reason. The sentence was obviously a joke, it being a callback to an earlier joke, but it made him feel strange. Once again, Mike had left him in complete confusion.

"I'm going to go stand in front of the fridge and see if something stands out to me," Mike playfully added in and stood once more, stretching slightly. "You coming?" Marionette nodded in agreement and Mike headed down the hall towards the kitchen. However, Marionette didn't follow right away and instead lingered on the bed a few moments longer.

Perhaps Mike did have a point; what was the use in concerning himself with Mike's relationships when, in the end, it would just be them returning to this home? He didn't have to worry about who Mike was with, because they would be back here together. Yet, surprisingly enough, the feeling of clinginess he had for Mike wasn't exactly diminishing. If anything, its hold was tightening even stronger. Thinking back, Marionette knew that he hadn't had a problem with Natalie before. He hadn't even been that upset when she had been inside his home.

It was becoming very apparent to him that something changed down in the facility. He didn't know if it was what he saw or if it was what happened with Mike, but something was certainly different, and Marionette simply couldn't identify what it was.


	37. Chapter 37

Marionette and Mike's contrasting personalities could be easily summed by their approach towards Christmas. Marionette was overeagerly anticipating it, taking full advantage of his freedom to choose decorations, and took care in handmaking gifts for everyone he knew closely. Mike, in stark contrast, was much less proactive in his views of the holiday. It was only when Marionette started to make calls that Mike did start to contribute. Marionette sent him to get a tree, so Mike got a tree. Marionette asked him to put up lights, so he put up lights.

Though Mike wasn't actively showing much creativity unless he was directed. At first, Marionette was concerned that Mike didn't like Christmas, but in a passing comment the human confirmed that he did like the holiday. So the Puppet settled on a much simpler answer; Mike just didn't go out of his way to prepare for Christmas. It didn't exactly make sense to the striped male, but it was somewhat understandable considering Mike's demeanor. Regardless, Mike did do multiple chores for Marionette without complaint.

By Christmas Eve, Mike had finally gone out to find the rest of the gifts he needed and to get a replacement string of Christmas lights for the tree. Marionette was left at the home alone, only kept company by an oven full of half-baked cookies and a tree that was partially unlit. The Puppet had retreated to the television where he watched a marathon of old Christmas shows. Most of them involved puppets, which surprisingly didn't make him feel uncomfortable, and all around set the mood for the evening. Christmas would be tomorrow, after all.

If there was anything dwelling on his mind, it would be the fact that Mike and he were not intending to exchange gifts. Mike had casually mentioned a few days back that they shouldn't have to buy gifts for each other. Marionette did love giving gifts, but agreed with Mike's suggestion. Though now it was starting to creep on him again and concern him. It didn't seem right to not exchange some form of gift. As it was, the underside of the tree only had presents from the others to them, wrapped and stacked.

Or he assumed to them. Most were probably for Mike, but at least one had to be for himself. Marionette wasn't concerned about receiving gifts and didn't feel like it was a big issue. However, not getting something for Mike, or making something for Mike, seemed like a mistake. The only thing he currently could give him was something that Mike technically owned already; a nice gesture, but not a proper gift.

All the thoughts on gift giving did stir some memories. Marionette could remember the days before Christmas when he was a child. He would sneak into his father's bedroom and peek into the closet, spotting presents hidden on the top shelf, and longingly count down the days until he could open them. He had never gotten many gifts, but those toys had been his lifeline. The plush animals had been his friends. It had all been some form of an escape.

Before Marionette knew it, he had risen from the couch and was heading down the hallway towards the master bedroom. He didn't know why he did, except to possibly cling tighter to those few good memories. The master bedroom wasn't exactly how his father had left it anymore. Mike's things were everywhere, but it somehow made Marionette feel less uncomfortable. It made the room look lived in unlike the other bedrooms in the home. He headed over to the closet with a playful smile and opened it, looking to the top shelf tucked under the attic entrance.

Marionette immediately flinched in surprise. He was expecting nothing on the shelf, as it had been for many months, but this was not what he saw. Instead there was a gift sitting in plain view. A gift wrapped in green wrapping paper. He knew, immediately, that it had to be for him. This had to be a hidden gift that Mike got for him.

A swell of warmth overtook him, but then was drowned in the icy realization of what Mike did. Mike had been bluffing and Marionette had bought it, so now he was here, Christmas Eve, with no gift. Panic overtook him as both disappointment in not getting a gift and the programmed need to give gifts warred. He had to do something and he didn't have much time.

* * *

"Don't struggle…" With this desperate murmur, Jeremy slid off the tutu from around the Minireena's waist. She was compliant, but in a state of constant moving and fidgeting. "You'll like this, I promise," he smiled as he grabbed for her 'gift'. In a way, it was just as much a gift for himself, as he enjoyed tending to the doll. He slid it over her, her passively taking a raised arm ballet stance so that he could, and secured it around her. It fit well enough; there was some awkward looseness around the very top, but the Velcro held it closed and on.

"There you go!" Jeremy beamed in triumph at his success. It wasn't much, but she was now wearing a Christmas themed dress, and didn't look to be irritated by it in any way. "Aww Daisy, you're beautiful!" he complimented as she began to spin in place idly. He then looked over to announce his success to the other animatronic in the room. However, Foxy had suddenly decided to pull in behind his curtains, and Jeremy had a feeling that he knew why. "Captain, I'm not putting  _you_ in a dress." There was curtain ruffling, but no response.

This maybe wasn't the typical day before Christmas traditions, but this was more than good for Jeremy. He would rather stay at the Pizzeria with a couple of animatronics than sit at home. Or, heaven forbid, drive hours upon hours to see his family. Family life for the Fitzgeralds' was close, with everyone being fully engulfed in each other. They all lived near each other, they spent as much time as they could together, and they never fell out of touch.

Jeremy moving away hadn't been a big deal, but last Christmas, and Thanksgiving, had been a nightmare. While unintentional, the boisterous and happy family had completely cut him out, and the holiday was spent with him meekly sitting to the side, listening to everyone else talk. While disappointed, he wasn't necessarily regretting his decision to move. Jeremy had to form some sort of life for himself without the involvement of all his family members. Thus, he was iced out in a seemingly warm way.

Now Daisy didn't judge. She was affectionately attendant to him and even somewhat reliant on him, but didn't judge him. Foxy may have judged him, but at least Foxy wasn't one to be passive aggressive. If he had an issue Jeremy expected to hear it; not to feel like he was being shut out. Even though the train of thought couldn't continue any further, he suddenly thought of the third animatronic left at the warehouse.

The magician, as the called it, had shown little sentience around them. It looked around at its surroundings, but it didn't speak, and it barely moved. As such, it hadn't been moved out of the warehouse and hadn't been a priority for the time. Fritz had instead been engaged in trying to get the information out of the HandUnit they had found, so the magician was left be. Except for the times that Marionette 'visited' it, it seemed to keep mostly still. Now Jeremy was dwelling on it.

"Hey… Foxy, can you… Could you watch Daisy while I go get the magician?" Jeremy asked curiously. The curtain was slowly drawn open and the fox peered out. "It won't be long. I just… I don't think anyone should be alone on Christmas… Or, uh, the day before."

Foxy briefly looked at the Minireena before making a sighing noise. "I'll keep an eye on the Lass… But don't keep us waiting." Indeed, Foxy didn't exactly trust the doll enough to be alone with it too long. Even now he noticed her slowing down in her spinning, stopping to stare directly at him. Foxy wouldn't make eye contact with her; he wasn't willing to make that challenge.

"I'll be quick," Jeremy insisted as he stood and hurried towards the door. He was suddenly driven to find this elusive third animatronic, to maybe get him to speak or something. He eagerly headed out the door and into the snow that waited outside, heading for his car and hoping it would work instead of the van.

Meanwhile, inside, Foxy turned his attention on the Minireena. She was now staring him down and giggled a little. Foxy moved a few steps forward, but soon realized that this was a terrible mistake. Suddenly the doll sprung into the air and landed on his chest, climbing onto his face and beginning a war like no other.

Foxy always had a feeling that Jeremy was going to cause him to walk the plank. This only confirmed it.

* * *

Mike shivered as he stepped out of the car and fixed his jacket. Even though it was snowing, he didn't expect it to be this cold. He was quick to grab the bags out of the back seat and headed to the front door. It took a few minutes to fumble with the keys and get inside the house, but the warmth from inside was immediate comfort. "I'm home!" he called in as he set the bags on the table.

Shopping the day before Christmas had been chaos. Mike didn't really enjoy searching for gifts on the best of days, but there had been nearly fifty people cramped inside of a single store, struggling to find last minute gifts. Though he was strictly to blame; forgetting his grandparents had been a foolish, but somewhat understandable mistake. At least he could box the gifts and send them on Monday; then he would be able to tell them that he had sent their gifts. He would just… Say he forgot to send them. Or that the post office was closed. Either would work.

Decorated gingerbread cookies were sitting out on the dining room table. Already cooled, already iced, and already Mike was lifting the glass covering to take one. He couldn't remember the last time he had freshly baked gingerbread cookies. Maybe with his grandmother; he could barely remember his mother cooking, let alone baking. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth that he washed out with the cookie. It did its jobs.

"I didn't expect you back so soon." Marionette, in typical fashion, appeared behind him without any warning. By now, Mike knew to expect it, and could usually tell when the animatronic appeared. Marionette's tone was light, which was expected. Christmas had brought an especially bubbly side of the puppet out. In a way, Mike appreciated it. He couldn't recall the last time he had a real Christmas. Last year's Christmas tree alone had been a small, plastic one that he stuck on top of his television. This was a much bigger event.

"You're lucky I'm back at all. It was a madhouse in there," Mike remarked and turned back. "These-," he started and stopped. He was prepared to compliment the cookies, which he knew would probably trigger the puppet to bake two or three more batches, but was cut off by what the puppet was carrying in its hands. It looked as though Marionette had found one of Fredrick's sweaters. It was a dark green with a lavender colored argyle pattern along the middle of it and looked relatively soft to the touch. "…If you think I'm putting that on, you're mistaken."

"Do you think  _I_ could put this on?" Marionette inquired with a tilt of the head. "It was my father's. It seems like a shame to not be brought out."

Mike considered this only briefly. "If you want to know if I think you can, I don't think that's going to work. That thing wouldn't fit me," the security guard pointed out with a bite of cookie. Fredrick had always been a bigger man. The sweater didn't look his style, but then again, Mike had only ever seen Fredrick in work clothes. The size was the only thing that securely matched the image.

"If you want to know if I think you should, then I should probably point out that green and purple don't go together. It's not even a Christmas color combination," Mike pointed out. He didn't expect the animatronic to take it to heart, and he was right.

The Puppet then attempted to get into the sweater. Compared to his incredibly slim frame, the sweater was like a tent, and he struggled to control it. Mike couldn't look away. It was like watching an accident in slow motion; he knew it would probably end in a disastrous scene. Somehow Marionette managed to keep it on, but it was basically hanging on his form. Though this wasn't saying much. The whole thing just looked odd.

…Mike wasn't blind to what Marionette was and wasn't oblivious to how dangerous he could be. Regardless of this, Marionette had his moments of being adorable, and Mike couldn't deny that this was one of them. Especially with the confidence in the puppet's voice when he asked, "How does it look?"

"…That's just great," Mike answered, though wasn't giving a full answer. Marionette didn't look happy in this answer, his eyes slightly narrowing, but he made no attempt to remove the sweater. Instead, he approached the tree with a new interest.

"You got the lights?" Marionette inquired as he pointedly glared at the unlit portion of the tree.

"I did, and it was one of the last boxes that wasn't opened and strewn all over the place," Mike remarked as he opened the fridge to grab the milk. He stopped at the sight of three more plates of cookies wrapped in plastic. Only one of the plates was another one of gingerbread cookies; the other two were iced sugar cookies. "…Something happen while I was gone?" He hadn't thought he had been gone that long period, so the massive amount of cookies was suspect.

"I'm sorry?" the striped animatronic quipped back in confusion.

"You don't usually blow through the cookie dough unless something's wrong. Did someone come by?" Now that Mike was noticing this, he took a closer look at the animatronic in particular. It didn't take long for him to notice that something was slightly off. While Marionette sounded normal, his body language was clearly slightly askew. He kept folding his arms and rubbing them in an uncomfortable way. It couldn't have been from Mike's reaction to the sweater. He began to fidget with the sleeves.

"It's just anticipation for tomorrow," Marionette excused. However, Mike didn't exactly believe him. He grabbed the lights and headed over to fix the tree, working quickly to get them back on. "I think this is a sweater." Mike glanced down towards Marionette who was kneeling at the foot of the tree, tugging out a wrapped gift. "You can unwrap it now and we'll match," he suggested, nudging Mike's leg with the gift.

This was absolutely the last thing the security guard intended on doing. "If I'm going to cheat and open a gift, it's not going to be a sweater… If any of those aren't sweaters?" He raised a brow and the animatronic shifted through the boxes. Since he was legitimately searching, Mike had a suspicion that more than one of the boxes contained sweaters, or something clothing related.

Soon the new lights were alit and the tree returned to its former glory. Mike detangled himself from the tree decorations and backed away to look at his work. "Good as new. Maybe these'll last for more than a couple of hours," he remarked. It they didn't, he would right back at the store, and that was a trip that he would avoid if he could. By now Marionette was entirely under the tree. "What are you doing?"

"Why would Natalie give me a gift?" Marionette asked in response. Apparently he had found Natalie's gift, which Mike had brought in a few days before. For the last week, Natalie and Marionette had worked in rather close company. However, it was clear that he was still not entirely comfortable with her. For instance, he had entirely reverted to chimes and gestures with her, even though he had spoken in front of her.

"Why does anyone get anyone gifts?" Mike responded back, going to get another cookie. "Guilt for their lack of a relationship. Case in point; look at how many gifts we have considering the fact that we know, what, five people?" It might have been a little cynical, but Mike wanted to keep the tone light. Marionette was more comfortable with Natalie now, but with Marionette little things set him off in odd ways. He needed his space and when anything encroached on that space, except Mike, the puppet would react accordingly.

Something as simple as an unexpected gift seemed to be one of those things. Though he seemed more confused than upset. He slid out with the wrapped box in his hands and slowly tapped over it. He had a suspicion that it was something fabric, as he wasn't getting much feedback from the taps.

"You're going to spoil it," Mike quipped in as he moved to the couch to sit down. "Come watch… Whatever this is." Marionette slowly set down the present and joined his companion. The gifts could wait until later.

* * *

Foxy only let his guard down when he heard the back door open. His ears raised and he stared back towards the hall, waiting to see the owner of the footsteps and the odd wheeling noise. The second Jeremy appeared he relaxed quite a bit. "Ya finally returned to port."

"Y-Yeah," Jeremy responded with a shiver as he wheeled the unmoving magician animatronic close to the stage. "I had a little trouble moving him. If it wasn't for the dolly out back, you would've had to help me move him." He relaxed the animatronic on the floor and, leaving it on the contraption for a moment, looked to the fox in concern. "Where's Daisy?"

The animatronic stiffly pointed towards the crane game and Jeremy followed the movement. He then gawked in alarm at the sight of something clearly moving around inside of the glass box. There she was, the Minireena, moving around amongst the various stuffed animals.

"You were supposed to watch her!" Jeremy blurted out as he hurried over to the game machine and looked in on the doll.

Foxy walked over to stand beside him, "I did." Silence hung on the air for a minute.

"And not let her do this," Jeremy added in with exasperation. He tapped on the glass until he got the Minireena's attention. Before he could do anything else, Jeremy suddenly sneezed. Foxy reacted with a dramatic flinch and looked over as though the human had suddenly sprouted a hook. "Ugh. I hope this isn't the start of something," Jeremy murmured as he peered into the glass again. "Come on, Daisy. Just go down the chute and I'll catch you."

The Minireena seemed confused from the way it stared, but did as instructed and climbed down the chute. Jeremy eagerly snatched her into his arms, coddling her close. This was followed by another pat on the back by Foxy, "Ya need to calm down a little, Lad. Yer so high-strung." Jeremy didn't even know that he knew that term, but it didn't exactly make him feel any more confident in the animatronic.

Looking over, he could see the magician watching, but it had still said nothing. At least it was paying attention, Jeremy guessed, but he wished he had more to show than a frenzy about a doll in a toy machine. He sighed in response, coughed into his fist, and held the Minireena closer. She eagerly held onto his jacket and gave a small giggle of contentment.

It still was better than the last Christmas that he spent with his family… But that wasn't saying much, if Foxy's obvious smugness was any sign.

* * *

"…Fredbear and Friends had a Christmas special."

Marionette must have noticed that Mike was looking bored. Half an hour into 'A Miracle on 34th Street' and the security guard was already looking ready to fall asleep at the post. Though it wasn't like Marionette was paying much attention either; other things were on his mind, and he considered these other things much more important. Blue eyes glanced over questioningly. "Do you have it?"

"I do," Marionette replied. "It's on my other tape."

"You have another tape?" Mike had always seen the same labelled tape, so he assumed there weren't others. Not that it mattered too much. As he watched the puppet leave, find the tape, return with the tape, and start putting it in, his mind went back to the remarkably odd behavior that he had been portraying tonight. Even now, Mike noticed that Marionette had become remarkably quiet. He leaned forward a little and studied the animatronic a little closer. "…We have time while you're rewinding that if you want to talk."

"Oh? About what?" Marionette apparently didn't catch the jest of what Mike was saying.

"Come on, Mari, what's going on? You were so excited about this before I left," Mike pointed out. "Something's going on."

"Mike, I'm fine." Marionette was a little firmer and hesitated in his actions, as though showing defiance. Mike raised his hands in defense even though he was not content with the answer. He would just let the subject drop until later. Or that was the original intention, before Marionette's defense abruptly dropped. "I was just thinking of some things earlier… I was thinking about my father again- But I'm fine!" The cheery tone in his voice was as flimsy as could come. "I don't want to dwell on that when we're having a good time."

Though he left it at that, it answered all of Mike's questions. Suddenly it made sense why Marionette was wearing the sweater. It wasn't a random act of holiday tradition; it was a remnant of Fredrick. With that realization, Mike immediately wished that he would've let the questions drop. He hadn't wanted to initiate the realization that Marionette was still upset about Fredrick's passing. It was a given, naturally, but Mike had hoped that work and the holiday would distract him. If that wasn't going to work…

"…I'll be right back," Mike announced as he stood from the couch. Marionette glanced over for a moment as the male headed down the hall, but was unconcerned. Instead he was more focused on whether he could find the Christmas episode without much fidgeting with the tape. Though before he could do so, Mike returned to the living room with a familiar gift in his hands. If Marionette still had a heart it would be racing in excitement. Giddiness overtook him as he stared at the package, which was now confirmed to be his.

"I know we said that we wouldn't be doing gifts-," Mike cut off when Marionette abruptly took the gift and began to tear through the wrapping paper. He couldn't resist cracking a smile of amusement at the innocent eagerness. "-But I thought we could bend the rules a little. I do my best work at the last minute." He chuckled slightly as he watched the puppet eagerly work at getting the gift open.

The box inside was closer with a tab, not tape, so Marionette could slide it open and reveal the bed of red tissue paper. Fishing inside, his fingers eagerly latched onto a wooden box that he lifted out. He knew even before he opened it that it was a music box. Curiosity overtook him as he wound nimbly wound it. He then opened the music box; while the outside was plain wood, the inside was much more intricate. Contained inside of the small box was an even smaller, miniature Christmas village. The detail in each little building was as eye catching as could be.

The Carol of the Bells began to softly trill from the precious box. It immediately started to sink into him and he could feel the music's effect. The song's impact was much less powerful than some of the others, but the wave of calmness and warmth creeping in was evident. Unless it was simply caused by the act itself. Either way, he thought it was wonderful. Marionette felt his own chiming flicker in from his own joy.

"I didn't know which of the songs would do what, so I sort of went for a shot in the dark approach," Mike covered. Knowing Marionette's reaction to music made the task slightly more difficult, but he was glad to see that there weren't any abrupt emotional swings. As luck would have it, he made a good choice. "But, I mean, we've gone through a lot this year, so it's not-." He cut off as Marionette sprung at him.

His arms tightened around Mike in a thankful hug, nearly dragging him over the back of the couch. It was balance that kept Mike from any sort of serious strain. Once he recovered enough, he gave a slight chuckle and patted the animatronic on the back. He guessed that it had been a while since anyone had gifted him, leaving out the gift basket.

"It's perfect," Marionette's voice was suppressed by delight chimes, but he managed to get the words out. Though he then suddenly vanished. Mike briefly teetered at the vanishing weight, but was then left to just stand there for the few seconds until Marionette suddenly returned. Mike sent a slightly surprised look at the gift that Marionette was carrying. He wasn't too shocked in the reveal, but he was a little surprised that the animatronic had decided to hand it over early as well.

Marionette gestured towards the couch and Mike moved to sit down, the puppet kneeling beside him and handing over the gift. Right afterwards he moved to coddle his new music box in his lap, watching expectantly.

"You sure? It's still just Christmas Eve," Mike reminded as he fiddled with the red ribbon. It was wrapped in pale blue wrapping paper that was dotted with snowflakes, but was tied with the usual red ribbon. He looked a little closer at the shape of the box with suspicion,  _"Wait… Please tell me 'this' isn't a sweater too."_ It definitely felt to be the proper weight of clothes, so that was a hint of some kind.

"You gave me mine. It's only fitting that we exchange ours at the same time," Marionette quipped in delight. He then looked down to the music box, admiring it further. "Thought it's not as perfect as what you got me." He opened the box again and let the soothing music warm him once more. Without hesitation, Mike started to unwrap the box. He didn't tear through it at the speed that his companion had and tried to keep the amount of shredded paper to a minimum if he could.

Soon the box was opened and he was immediately presented with purple. "…What?" He slowly lifted the jacket out of the box and stared at it. This time there was actual shock; this was his uniform jacket. The jacket that had become torn, stained, and practically unsalvageable during their incident in Afton's. "How did- This is a new one, right? You couldn't have-." He cut off as he felt something else in the box. He slipped his hand under the jacket and felt something metal hiding underneath.

"It's the same one," Marionette confirmed. It had taken a lot of time and effort, but he had managed to salvage the jacket.

"How in the hell were you able to do that?" Mike asked in return. Though there was clear happiness in his voice. He had kept the old Freddy's uniform for a reason and, while he hadn't been too upset when it was mangled, he was clearly relieved to get it back. He was happy, which made Marionette happy, and it was only then that he pulled out the watch.

Marionette waited a few moments before he spoke. He wanted Mike to be able to study the gift before he covered himself, which he knew he would have to do. After all, fixing clothes were an easy enough thing to do. Spawning golden wristwatches out of thin air just didn't happen. Mike murmured under his breath as he checked the back, "My God, it's real…" There was enough gold in the watch that the maker decided to proudly present the numbers on the back of the watch. Its value was all laid out in the open.

"Before you ask, no, I won't tell you where I got this," Marionette spoke and he leaned closer. For a brief second he knew that Mike's look was suspicious, and he didn't blame him. In all honesty, Marionette probably wouldn't see too much issue with taking a watch from a store to give to him. He knew it was wrong, but he wouldn't deny that he would probably do it. "But I didn't steal it," he added in as he started to put it on Mike's wrist. "I didn't get it through any shady means. I just don't want to tell you where I got it or it will ruin the magic."

"Just as long as some guy doesn't appear at the door tomorrow saying that he was mugged by a mime," Mike joked back. He instantly lapsed back into thankfulness. "It's… It's amazing. It's  _real gold_ ; I don't think I've owned anything that's been real gold." For once in his life, Mike was out of words. He couldn't tell if Marionette comprehended how valuable the watch was.

"And it looks perfect on you," Marionette added in affectionately. He secured the watch on his wrist before adding in. "I want you to have this and I wanted us to celebrate Christmas together, because I don't- I don't want to dwell on the past any longer. I rather us have new memories," he explained in a softer tone. "I didn't get to have a Christmas last year."

"I didn't either. Not a real one," Mike admitted. "I haven't had a real Christmas in… Seventeen years? But what do you expect when you live alone and don't like people?" The cracked joke had an odd tone on it. Even though Mike was smiling, something sounded bitter in it, but it passed quickly. "But that's okay. We have tonight and tomorrow to make up for that," he might have winked, but Marionette had glanced down at the music box again.

It was then that Mike suddenly put an arm around him. Marionette straightened abruptly at the touch. "Relax, I'm just returning the favor," Mike encouraged with a warmer smile. There was no joking now; it was simply a sign of thankfulness. The striped male relaxed into the warm, one armed hug. This was what he had wanted.

* * *

_Marionette pushed open the door to the master bedroom and stared inside. Just as he feared; it was still empty. He had hoped that his father had slipped in while he was asleep. That he had just gotten home late for whatever reason. However, the room was untouched. The bed was still unmade from when his father had woken the morning before. Usually he made his bed soon after waking, but Marionette wasn't surprised by the change. His father had looked unwell. That added in with him being missing left his son more worried than ever._

_He moved closer to the bed and casually tugged the blanket upwards in a half-hearted attempt to make the bed. It barely worked and he instead trailed his fingers along the blanket. It was cold and untouched; lacking the remnants of his father that he hoped to find. He didn't even know who to call or what he was supposed to do in this situation. Father took care of everything and now he was missing._

_It was now when Marionette's eyes landed on something left on the night stand. He moved in closer and reached out towards the cold metal._

" _He forgot his watch…" Marionette lifted the object and stared at its face. It read nothing but the time, gave no hints to where his father was, and there was no indication to why he would leave it behind. Maybe he had simply been too ill to remember it. He had looked so pale, so clammy, and he never remembered him ever looking that ill. For now, he could only wait for him to return._

_Clutching the wristwatch to his chest, Marionette left the room as quickly as he entered. He didn't want to be there a moment longer._


	38. Chapter 38

_Mike woke slowly and groggily rubbed his face before looking to the clock. Four in the morning; much too early to be awake. Yet he was and he slowly dragged himself out of bed. His mind was foggy as he stumbled out of bed, and he wanted to go back to sleep. Something kept him from going back to sleep, though, and a shadow suddenly passed the window. He only barely noticed it out of the corner of his eye and, once realizing that something was outside, he moved closer and lifted the window open._

_He was immediately met with the melody of music box chiming from outside. It didn't take long for him to see the source of the music. The black and white figure stood out against the snowy backyard. He turned in soft circles, spinning lightly and barely brushing along the snow that had accumulated on the ground beneath him. Confusion appeared in full as he saw the puppet's actions outside his bedroom windows. It almost looked like he was… Dancing?_

_It seemed like a weird assumption, but Marionette was moving like he was dancing. From the soft twisting of his body, to moving his arms in slight, floated motions, to the constant, rhythmic circles above the snow. The music also supported this fact, and Mike recognized the song as the one that had played down in the Ballora Gallery. Being that it was so late, he wasn't too worried about Marionette being seen. However, this was too odd to just ignore. Pulling on his uniform jacket, the one the puppet mended, he headed out of the bedroom._

_Being outside in the middle of the night, in the cold, with little more than nightclothes and a jacket wasn't exactly comfortable, but Mike was strung along. His head still felt fogged and he couldn't rouse himself the rest of the way. He shook it off as he walked around the house. Marionette didn't notice him step into the backyard at first. He only noticed him after a few seconds, which gave Mike long enough to take a closer look at the scenario. The music cut off and Marionette stared at the watching human._

"… _I could think of a better time to go dancing, but hey, whatever winds you up," Mike spoke with a slight smirk. After all, he did basically catch the puppet in an odd scenario. It wasn't as though he expected anyone to see him at this hour. Especially since Mike was supposed to be in bed hours beforehand._

" _I hope I didn't wake you," Marionette responded. "It's just such a beautiful night. I needed to take the chance while I have it; the snow can't last forever." He spun in a delighted fashion. Mike had never seen Marionette willingly dance. Come to think of it, the only time he had ever seen Marionette dance period was back in the Ballora Gallery. Maybe he was singing, or chiming, the familiar tune to help himself dance?_

" _Nah, I woke up on my own," Mike took a quick glance along the fence, making sure nobody was peering over it. He then looked back to the striped animatronic to see that he was holding out a hand. "…What?"_

" _Dance with me?" Marionette offered with an eager tone. Mike gave him a look questioning his seriousness. "You're awake. You're here. Dance with me."_

_This all just seemed a little too strange. "Okay…" Mike slowly went along with it; taking Marionette's warm hand and moving in. "But if we're dancing then we should be doing actual dancing," he gave a playful smile and slid in closer, taking his other hand and placing it on his own shoulder. He then placed his hand on Marionette's shoulder, "Like this."_

" _And then we…?" Marionette coaxed out. He was already beginning to chime Ballora's song, but was able to speak while doing it._

_Mike sent him a small smile. Something was just so innocent in Marionette's eagerness. It was just dancing, yet he was so insistent in wanting to do it. It wasn't like the security guard could complain, especially when his mind was clouded and easily encouraged. "Just follow my lead…"_

* * *

Mike awoke with a start and instantly fiddled around on the nightstand for his phone, which was loudly playing the Toreador March. He didn't even have a moment to wake up before he was expected to react like normal. "Hello?" he grumbled into the cell phone. He knew he hadn't gotten enough sleep just by how slow he felt.

"Hey! You sound awful," Fritz pointed out. There was some clicking on the other side of the phone.

"I've had better mornings," Mike clarified as he glanced at the clock. It was nine-thirty in the morning, which meant he had slept at least a few hours. Thankfully, he didn't have to get up for the Pizzeria today, which meant that he had some time to recover. "I haven't seen you for a few days. How was Christmas?"

"Pretty good! I- Uh… I had a date. It was the first time since Dinah that I've been out on a real date, so that was something." There was a louder click, like something being clicked into place.

"Congrats. Anyone I know?" Mike asked as he ran his fingers through his hair, trying to rouse himself further. It was only now that he realized he had been laying on top of the covers instead of under them. Slowly the dream from last night decided to resurface and he was filled with confusion,  _"What kind of dream was that?"_

"Maybe… It's a long story. I won't bore you over the-," he cut off with a huff of annoyance. "Damn it…" Before Mike could even ask, a second voice filtered over the phone.

" **Hello. You seem to be trying to access my mainframe. Access to the Handyman's Robotics and Unit-Repair System's programming is withheld unless you have clearance. Please enter the four-digit password to continue."**

"No, I'm pretty sure I haven't met her, but she sounds like a catch," Mike remarked with amusement. He could hear Fritz groan again over the line and sat upwards to climb off the bed. "Is that the HandUnit you've been working on? You finally got it to turn on?"

"Yeah, but I wish I didn't," Fritz muttered. "I can't even open the back of this without it instantly locking itself up. I can't even begin to imagine how paranoid someone has to be to basically lock a tape recorder behind a four-number password."

"1987?" Mike immediately suggested. There was a pause, a tapping noise, and a response.

" **Incorrect passcode. Please try again."**

"Didn't work, and there's no way to log into this thing the normal way," he explained. "See, when it pulls up the numbers its fine, but when it pulls up the keyboard for login it's just a mess… Not that my name would respond, but I know one or two that might." There was a creaking noise as the technician leaned back in his seat. "So, I'm stuck with this… And I've been thinking a lot."

"About?" Mike glanced down and only now noticed that he was wearing his jacket. Sharp realization hit him. " _Last night really happened."_ He had stood in the backyard, in the snow, in the middle of the night, dancing.  _"What in the-?"_

"About that letter…" Fritz's voice grew more quiet. "Maybe whoever sent that knows more about all of this. Maybe they'd be able to get into this and get the information out. I mean, I could start listening through our box of tapes, but I doubt I'm going to find another adequate code."

"If they're smart, they're not going to have the code be-." Mike had been distracted by his revelation, so it took a moment to sink in. Then the words that Fritz said suddenly clicked. "You're not going over there, are you?" There was silence. "Come on, Fritz. That letter was as shady as they come. It's probably just some guy from Afton's who wants to silence a few loose ends."

"I know, I know. I just wish he'd at least send a second letter or something. Maybe give me a name I could use or something…" There was a tapping over the phone, like maybe a pen or something similar. "He said he knew me. That means something, you know? I'm still going by Sam everywhere else. He had to know me before the name change."

"To be honest, it wasn't that much of a name change either," Mike prodded. Maybe trying to lighten the mood, maybe trying to point out the obvious. "I'll look through some of Fredrick's files and see what he has. If Freddy's was connected at all to Afton's, which it was, then there's a chance that Freddy himself has a way in." He paused a moment, "…And if not, we're going to have a hell of a time guessing."

"Kill me now," Fritz added in. He set the HandUnit aside on the desk and dragged the letter closer. "I'm taking a break. You want to meet up somewhere later?" Considering memory of the night before, Mike thought it would be good to get out of the house a little while.

"Sounds good to me. Maybe coffee. I need as much coffee as I can get," Mike suggested. It was only a few moments more before the two hung up. However, Mike didn't feel any better with the new plan, and he couldn't tell if it was because of Fritz still dwelling on the letter or because of something else. With a slow exhale, he changed his clothes and his bandage. From the look of the stab wound, and how closed it was, it didn't seem like he would need to keep the bandage on much longer. Even now this was more a precaution than a need.

As Mike wandered into the kitchen to turn on the coffee, he noticed that the TV was on and paused on the Fredbear cartoon. Marionette, however, was nowhere to be seen. With nothing better to do, his put the show on to have some sort of background noise. The scene that came onto screen was unusual and unlike the normal Fredbear and Friends fair.

Fredbear was lying in bed talking to Bonnie, with a wrapped middle and looking like he was injured. They seemed to have been talking for a while, as Freddy was mid-sentence. It immediately came to Mike that this was the season that Marionette did not watch. From what Mike knew in passing about the show, and what he had seen, the show went from being about the day to day life and morals of Fredbear and his gang to becoming an adventure based cartoon with a darker plot. Or as dark as a talking group of animals could manage.

The puppet clearly didn't enjoy this change and refused to watch these episodes. Which meant that Mike found it odd that it was clearly on this elusive season. Mike was awake, Marionette was missing, and the TV was on something that neither would really care to watch. And Mike still remembered everything that happened last night.  _"What was I doing before bed, shots?"_ he mentally asked himself as he focused on the episode.

" _You could've been seriously hurt, Man," Bonnie pointed out in concern. "I can't believe Chipper would do this to you!"_

" _It's not Chipper's fault. He's being controlled by the Count of Midnight," Fredbear excused with exhaustion on his voice. "But it's okay. We managed to get Beatrix back, so that's all that matters."_

" _Yeah, but… You matter too, Freddy," Bonnie insisted. "What am I going to do if I lose my best bud?"_

" _Then Max'll have to take my place. He's the one with the gift, after all," Fredbear explained. Bonnie looked down, not satisfied with this answer._

" _I swear, if I ever see that guy I'm gonna-!" he cut off with a sigh and sat down in the chair beside the bed. "I'll tell you what, buddy. I'm going to stay here and keep an eye on you why you get rested." The bunny smiled while the bear reclined on the pillows._

" _I don't know what I'd do without you, Bon," Fredbear closed his eyes while Bonnie lifted his guitar and began to lightly strum._

Mike stared at the screen blankly,  _"What even am I watching?"_ It was sort of amusing to see the cartoon try and be serious. Especially with characters who Mike had previously seen do a remake of the Christmas Carol. He set the remote down and looked down the hallway toward Marionette's bedroom. Curious, he headed down to his room and nudged the cracked door open. Marionette was kneeling on the floor while stitching on one of his Freddy plush dolls. Though he immediately stopped what he was doing and looked to the human.

Unlike Mike, who was feeling a little awkward about the night before, Marionette greeted him with his usual smile. "Good morning!" If anything, Marionette seemed a little more perky than usual.

"Morning. Are you busy?" Honestly Mike couldn't tell. Marionette had his sewing kit out, which would suggest 'yes', but he also had his Christmas music box on, which would suggest 'no'. Regardless, Marionette's answer was the same.

"No. I was just mending Freddy. I'm free," he closed the music box and set Freddy aside. He had a Bonnie plush already out and sat them alongside each other before raising off the floor. "Is something wrong?"

Of course, Mike could verbally voice his confusion about last night, and how odd it was, but suddenly he found his nerve cave. There was no point in making this weird. All it would do is shake their friendship, and that was the last thing that he wanted. "Just a little worried about Fritz. He's spending too much time in that warehouse, so we'll be meeting up later… You don't know any sort of four number code that would be in a HandUnit, do you?" It seemed like it was worth a shot.

"1987?"

"Didn't work."

"1983?"

"I can suggest that… What happened in 1983?" Mike couldn't help but cringe at the thought. "Actually, don't tell me. I think I can live without another Springlock suit story." Though unlike what he was saying, he did feel a nagging curiosity.

Marionette brushed it off, "I couldn't tell you if I wanted to. I don't recall whatever happened in 1983, but, whatever it was, it was a big enough event that I remember the date." He gave an amused chime. "I could try getting into the HandUnit without a password. I have a way with electronics."

"Then that'll do. Though it's going to be a shame if we crack that open and find fifty tapes on how to properly manage a night shift," Mike pointed out as he turned and stepped out of the room. The puppet eagerly followed him and, for a moment, Mike second guessed his decision to not talk about the night. Then he shrugged it off and continued on.

* * *

Fritz knew he was making a big mistake. He knew this and yet he still opened his car door and stepped out.

The house was small and didn't look interesting in any significant way. It was made of brick and rather small. The windows were blocked with both blinds and iron bars. The iron bars were especially odd considering that it was such a good neighborhood. Even now, he could see a group of five young kids playing in the snow while a man watched. Not a dangerous area in the slightest. Fritz slowly wandered towards the front door and stepped up the small, cement ramp. His hand gripped tightly on the cold, metal bar that made up the railing and stared at the front door.

This was it. This would change everything in some significant way. With a slow inhale, Fritz knocked on the door and waited for a response. No doorbell, no doorknocker, just wood to knock against and hope that somebody heard him. For a few seconds, there wasn't a response and he began to knock again. Then came footsteps and Fritz took a step back. He watched the door and waited for it to open.

The person hesitated on the other side of the door. He guessed peering through the peephole in the door. Whoever it was, they could probably recognize him. If not, then he was clearly wearing the Freddy's technician hat that most technicians would wear. That was something, considering that the person suggested that they knew about Freddy's. Then the door slowly started to open and he could see the writer of the letter.

First came the shock, then came the questions, and it ended with a sudden realization. He did know this person and he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

* * *

Marionette was not as awake as he let on. By noontime, he was clearly starting to lag, and Mike was becoming more amused by it ever second. The puppet seemed reluctant to go back to sleep, and Mike wondered if he had slept at all the night before. He vaguely remembered winding the box, but if Marionette had woken right after it went off then he wouldn't have gotten much time at all. He had just been wired the night before, in a possibly literal way.

"I'm calling Fritz to see if he's ready to meet somewhere," Mike pointed out as he got out his cell phone. "Maybe you should get some sleep. I can wind your box." Marionette tapped his fingers on the table, but didn't seem fully convinced into doing so. "Or you can stay awake and watch whatever's going on in there," Mike gestured to the television. He couldn't help but be amused at how Marionette face flickered from tired smile to complete disinterest. "We could rewatch that episode where Foxy gets a girlfriend."

"God, no," Marionette verbally dismissed. Mike couldn't help but snicker; Marionette was rarely so absolutely turned away by something. "It's hard enough watching Foxy flirt in person."

"Then why exactly has the tape been running through?" Mike curiously inquired. He was clearly suppressing a small smile, so Marionette knew the wrong answer would lead to only more laughter.

"Because I like when Fredbear and Bonnie are together," he admitted. "They're very good friends… It sort of reminds me of us. Except, you know, we live together." The human quipped a brow at the explanation. It made enough sense, he supposed. Fredbear and Bonnie seemed close enough, from what Mike had seen in passing glances of the show. Marionette stretched with a soft chime. "I might return to my box."

He slipped out of his chair as Mike started to dial Fritz, "I'll be there in a second." After a few rings, Fritz answered, "Hey, it's me. I've got the time if you want to meet somewhere." Fritz was strangely quiet on the other side. Then he spoke.

"Mike, you've got to get over here. You're not going to believe this. The address on the letter, do you have it?"

Mike's brows furrowed in alarm, "Have it? Of course I don't have it. You never gave it to me." There was a quiet second. "You went over there, didn't you?" His voice went flat as he heard Fritz give a quiet 'well' as a response. "I can't leave you alone for a minute."

"It was stupid, I'll admit, but this… You got to see this. Here, I'll give you the address. Do you have a pen and paper?" Fritz seemed rather determined while Mike gave a defiant huff and got his notepad and paper.

"Can't you just tell me now and save me the trip?" Mike asked with lingering hesitance. He wasn't exactly willing to play guessing games.

"No. You have to come here, Mike. You'll understand when you get here," Fritz insisted. He then rattled out the directions that the security guard jotted down. "You got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there."

"We'll be waiting for you," Fritz finished and ended the call. Mike groaned and folded the paper to take with him, slipping it in his jacket pocket. He then headed into Marionette's bedroom. "Change of plans. I need to go find Fritz and make sure he's not being held at gunpoint, so expect me to come home either injured, bored, or both," Mike laid out.

Marionette was already in his box, but he raised a bit at the information. "Should I stay awake?" Mike only considered this for a second before shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it. Fritz sounded fine on the phone and you need some sleep," Mike stated a bit more confidently. He lifted the normal music box and got in position. "Ready?" Marionette didn't know if he was fully willing to let his guard down, but slowly lowered down into the box. The box was wound and music started to fill the room. The box flaps closed and Mike set the music box down, and turned off the bedroom light as he left. He was sort of glad to leave Marionette in his box; at least he didn't have to worry about him.

Soon Mike was in the car and driving to the address in question. Part of him felt an exhilaration at knowing that he was about to face something important. Whether it was answers or just someone who also worked at Freddy's. However, there was also a hesitance, and he had a suspicion that it was connected to the wound he had been nursing since ARI. If he was going to have to face something dangerous, he would've preferred to have been healed first. He couldn't tell if he was back to full speed again or not.

He saw Fritz's car before he realized he was at the address. Pulling beside it in front of a closed garage, Mike studied the house for a few moments before getting out. One of the things that stood out the most was the security camera beside the door. He watched it as he approached the front door and, without a hesitation, let himself in. The house was smaller on the inside than he expected. The living room itself was dark and somewhat bare of furniture. An armchair and a couch were sat off in front of a small TV.

There was a side table, a small entertainment area, a house plant; mostly the basics. That was, except for a few red flags. Firstly, this was the only furniture in the living room, and the spot between the chairs and the nearby kitchen, which he could see from the light, was completely barren of furniture. Two cats sat on the couch. One was entirely bald and the second was large and overly fluffy, and both stared him down. Dragging his eyes away from them, Mike stared at the walls and found more signs of something amiss.

There was a map pinned on the wall that was marked with pins. He couldn't tell what the marks meant, unless it had something to do with the Freddy locations. The two marks looked very close to the pizzeria's and the diner's locations. There was also a bookcase filled entirely with tapes marked by dates and the occasional singular word. Mike studied them in the dark and could only be alarmed by how many they were. He wondered if they were also connected to the pizzeria. Or worse, connected to Afton's, because then there was a possibility of blackmail.

" _Blackmail only works when you've got something worth blackmailing over,"_ Mike reminded himself.  _"Last time I checked, I was broke."_ With a slight smirk for a second, he stood and turned towards the kitchen. He could hear Fritz prattling on inside, talking about how the Pizzeria was fairing, and the security guard crossed over and stepped inside.

The kitchen was much smaller than the living room. It was barely a room period; with a tiny table against the wall, two chairs, and a cramped space of a sink, fridge, and stove. Fritz was sitting at the table, chatting like he was standing at a watercooler shooting the breeze. Then there was his companion, the owner of the house, who was standing off to the side pouring a mug of what looked like coffee. "Mike," Fritz announced as he suddenly noticed him. "Hey, I didn't hear you come in."

The man was perhaps both the last thing he expected to see and the most understandable example of someone who worked at Freddy's. From the moment, Mike drew his attention onto the man, he could see how disheveled he looked. He might have not shaved that morning, or that week, and his hair looked like it came straight out of the bed and was untouched. This aside, there was an obvious pair of marks on each of his cheeks. At first Mike thought they were odd indentions, but after seeing the rest he realized these were scars.

As he poured the coffee, his hands were shaking like mad. They had a few crisscrossing scars along them too, but must have been deeper as they had a pinkish tinge making their path. From the way he was shaking, it was surprising that he could keep the coffee in the mug. Then he turned to face Mike in attention and it was now that he noticed his right leg. It was clearly a prosthetic from what parts stuck out from under the pant leg. The scars, the fake leg, the shaking; definitely a guy who had worked at Freddy's.

He just looked exhausted. Older than both Fritz and he, though he couldn't tell by how much, and like he hadn't slept in days. Which was remarkable as his hair gave the illusion that he never got out of bed. This man was not the threatening possibility that lent itself to the note. Mike knew then that there were no threatening intentions; this didn't look like the kind of person who could attack them both.

"This is Mike Schmidt. He's the one I was telling you about, who owns the Pizzeria with Jeremy and I," Fritz quickly introduced in a rehashing fashion. "He was the one who kept coming back." That was Mike's only lot in life and he was fine with agreeing to it. The man set his things aside and limped forwards.

"It's nice to meet you. You- You know, you don't see a lot of people who go back and, uh, make it out. It's just, greater odds are against something eventually going wrong, so that's amazing."

Mike took his hand, but almost immediately went rigid. He stared at the man as though he had just bluntly told him off, completely shocked at the comment. It wasn't the comment that took him aback though. He quickly glanced to Fritz who was watching and assumed that his silence was confirmation. "Yeah, you can only lose power so many times before Freddy actually makes it in before six."

The man gave a light, maybe forced, chuckle. "I think everyone gets there at least once. They just- most of them don't stay." That was all he needed to hear to be certain. As the man turned to get the coffee, Mike voiced his observation.

"I know you," he pointed out, as though he was shocked by his own words. The man looked slight alarmed as well by the way he abruptly looked over. Mike pointe to him as he clarified, "You left me tapes for my first week." His eyes widened as it fully sunk in, "I thought you were-!" ironically enough, there was more than one option that he could end this sentence with. Though one was more prominent than the other; he wasn't supposed to be standing there speaking to them.

Mike cut off as he suddenly accessed over the voice, the shakiness, and the missing limb. It would take something traumatic to cause this much damage, and Mike already had a suspicion of what did it. Or Mike knew exactly what did it, because the voice had given it away long ago.

This disheveled man was the elusive and very much alive Phone Guy.


	39. Chapter 39

"The training tapes? Yeah, I- I did most of the training tapes for Freddy's. I didn't get paid for them but, you know, you do what you can, right?"

The Phone Guy didn't fail to live up to Mike's expectations. Two minutes into a conversation and here he was rambling out an explanation for a yes or no question. Though it wasn't enough answers for the security guard. "I thought you were dead. That last tape… You sounded as close to dead as possible," Mike pointed out. "And I should know. Ask Fritz, I've been in the hospital twice in the last year." Though when Mike looked to Fritz he did a double take. The technician was looking at the table as though… "Or maybe I should be asking Fritz."

"I thought he was dead too," Fritz insisted. "I didn't lie to you about anything or keep anything secret from you. Trust me."

Mike looked to the Phone Guy and casually remarked, "Says the guy who didn't admit that he changed his name until after I figured it out on my own." He decided to fully ignore Fritz for the time being and focused on the familiar voiced man. "But what happened to you? I mean… That was a bad night." That was all he could say. That had been an awful night.

"It was… It was pretty bad," he took a drink of coffee, as though drowning out the thoughts for a moment or stalling. "It's- It's a pretty long story, but that's what you came for and that's why I brought you here. Sit down. Can I get you something?"

"I'm good, thanks," Mike started to sit down before pausing and standing. "Actually, I'll just stand. You go ahead." He could handle any possible discomfort; he didn't want to make a one-legged man stand in his own closet of a kitchen. The Phone Guy didn't argue with this. He was shaking worse and Mike leaned against the counter.

"Just a recap here…" Fritz volunteered awkwardly. "We have met before." As though he was covering himself a little further.

"We have. I mean, when you stay at Freddy's as long as I was, you basically meet everyone," the Phone Guy admitted. "…And you start learning things that you're not supposed to." He looked desperate to speak. As though years of silence were eating away at him and he couldn't keep quiet any longer. "I don't even know where to start."

"How about that night?" Mike suggested, but tried not to push too hard. The Phone Guy looked like the type to crack under pressure. Especially with the constant shaking in his hands.

"That night… Yeah, I'll have to work back a little, but that's a good start." He paused to drink more coffee. "I, uh… I never liked the night shift… And I'm not on the clock anymore, so I don't have to pretend I was. It was hell sitting in there all those nights. I knew that I couldn't keep up the pace forever. Eventually they'd get into the room… Heh, it's kind of funny. I sort of thought it was going to be Foxy, but it was really just all of them." He stared down in the mug at the dark liquid. "But I didn't think I'd be the lucky one who survived."

He sent them an uncomfortable smile. The scars on his cheeks were more obvious when he smiled, and that made Mike only more aware of how dangerous it had been. Yet he had kept going back. It was certainly something to think about in hindsight.

"I found him." Fritz's announcement surprised Mike. "I… I got him out of the suit, but I didn't know about what happened at the hospital. I just- I just thought that you died. Fredrick hadn't said anything." The Phone Guy suddenly choked, coughed a little, and set his coffee further away. The mention of Fredrick had triggered an odd reaction.

"You probably already heard about Fredrick," Mike added in, looking for a reaction. "And before you ask, yes, he's gone. There's no trick or fake death. He's actually gone."

"That's probably for the best," the Phone Guy remarked. His face immediately turned to panic. "Wait, that came out wrong. I just meant that it's best that he's not faking his death and just- You understand, right?" They both nodded in agreement with him. "Though I won't lie, I feel a lot safer knowing that Fredrick's not standing outside," he remarked as he looked behind himself in paranoia. "…Can we switch chairs? I don't like having my back free." Fritz shrugged it off and did as the older man requested. Then he finally continued.

"Fredrick… Look, I know that you two were close with Fredrick, but there's a few things that he was… He wasn't exactly…" The Phone Guy hesitated for a moment and inhaled tensely. He tapped his fingers on the table. "Let me just take a step back. A long time ago, Freddy's was owned by two people, Henry Johnson and William Afton. These two were the people in charge, but they didn't really work well together… I mean really didn't. These two were constantly fighting about the business and where they wanted to take it."

He laid his hands on the table as he began to compare the two men. "Henry was a hard worker, he was constantly doing what he could for the business, but he could really be a little… Over-ambitious. William had a robotics company and knew how to work on the animatronics, but he was a little… He wasn't exactly the most social of people. They both could be difficult to work with sometimes, but I'd probably take Henry as the better owner. He really did care about Freddy's."

"I think I read something on Henry," Mike volunteered. "He… Died in a Springlock accident?" The Phone Guy looked surprised at the fact that he knew that much.

"That's right. It was… Yeah, I mean, it was bad… But, so, anyway, Henry and William usually signed documents with the name 'Fredrick Fazmann'. For a long time, we just- I just assumed that Fredrick was a fake name for tax reasons, but after Henry and William were out of the business, after a couple of months passed without anything happening, Fredrick suddenly appeared out of nowhere." He fidgeted in his seat. "I was… Skeptical, but I still worked with him and he really did a good job getting Freddy's back on its feet."

He then shuddered, "But some things don't go away. You can't just pretend that multiple murders don't happen. A-And the animatronics were becoming more aggressive every day… Then there was that incident with Jeremy." Apparently, he and Fritz already spoke about Jeremy as they just shared a nod without an explanation.

Mike had his own question and looked to Fritz, "How about Jeremy? Do we need to call and bring him over here?"

Fritz shook his head, "I called him after you. He sounds half-dead so I just told him to stay in bed." He hesitated for a moment before coughing, "Sorry about the inappropriate 'death' comment."

"Shame on you," Mike quipped in a completely not serious way. He then looked back to the oldest male. "So, Fredrick was covering for the business?"

"He was, and not just for the business…" The Phone Guy looked around again, seemingly paranoid, and lowered his voice. "There was- There was this guy who worked in the Pizzeria- Fritz, you remember him- named Dave. Dave was…" He trailed off, staring out into the room with a briefly vacant expression. As though he suddenly lost track of thought.

"Suspicious?" Mike offered.

"A liar," the Phone Guy clarified. "Dave was a liar, and he didn't act right, and the animatronics really couldn't stand him… But Fredrick either didn't notice or didn't care, I thought. I thought Fredrick was just oblivious and he- uh… This is hard to get out there…" He fumbled with his coffee mug. "…One day I decided to voice my suspicions to Fredrick. The next thing I knew I was the one listed on the night shift… And he wasn't planning on moving me. Even when I threatened to quit, he wouldn't budge, and then… My last week I slipped."

"You… You think Fredrick put you there on purpose?" Fritz asked. There was a dread in his voice as he asked the question. All he could think about was the memory of prying the suit off the man in front of him. Of how reluctant Fredrick was to call for help, even if he could die.

"Yeah, I do. I think Fredrick knew that I knew too much. He didn't do it to anyone else. Not Dave, not you, he just wanted me out of the picture and I didn't have a chance. He… You were there. He wasn't going to let anyone call an ambulance."

Mike's head snapped to Fritz, "What does that mean? Fredrick was keeping you from calling an ambulance?" Fritz stared at his silently, with a desperation in his eyes. Mike understood immediately what that look meant and he didn't need an answer. "So… Maybe Dave- Was Dave the- Wait, let's take a step back." Mike pinched the bridge of his nose as he got his priorities straight. "Let's go back to the beginning, to Henry and William. I've got some questions."

"Shoot."

"So, it was a Springlock accident that killed Henry? No murder, no unexplained phenomenon, no animatronic, just a suit malfunction?" Mike spelled out quickly. He wanted to get the checklist of items out of the way. Too many people had died under mysterious circumstances and now that Phone Guy was suggesting sabotage, it seemed highly possible that Henry was also a victim. Alas, this wasn't the case.

"No, no. Just a Springlock accident. They were deathtraps, really. You could barely get them to crank into place and they would slip from the smallest nudges. It wasn't until a later accident when they were finally discontinued. It was a child- You probably know about this." He looked between them both in curiousness. "A couple of kids were fooling around and- It was just so terrible- Four children were playing a prank. You know, kids play pranks and all, they do these things, but this was…" he coughed into his fist. "Someone should've been watching."

"Wait, I thought you were talking about the Fredbear bite," Mike pointed out in confusion. "There was a different bite?"

"No, it- Well, there were plenty of bites, look at Jeremy- This was the Fredbear bite. A couple of kids shoved a younger kid's head into Fredbear's mouth and- You know, the springlocks are never secure. Just the smallest bit of pressure and they snap out of place. The boy couldn't get out and it just- It just crushed him."

" _Oh_ _ **shit**_ _."_ Mike suddenly was hit with the full impact.  _"Marionette didn't say anything about that."_ It couldn't be the same situation, he mentally denied, as Marionette wouldn't have just left that out. All Marionette had said was that Fredbear had bit him.

"And that kid was in there constantly," the Phone Guy clarified. "It gets worse too. One of the boys who did it was his older brother. He was also in there all the time; the whole group was. They always-." The Phone Guy continued explaining, but Mike was lost to him.

Mike couldn't withhold the look of absolutely horror that had passed his face. Mostly because he suddenly realized why Marionette didn't tell him the truth. It suddenly made sense and Mike rubbed at his face wearily, "Oh my God…" He didn't even want to think about it. To think that any child would be shoved into the maw of a metal suit and be crushed to death was hard enough, but this was Marionette, this was his Mari who had died in such a display. Yet Marionette had said absolutely nothing.

Except there was one comment that suddenly came back to Mike.  _"It was a group effort."_ He had never thought about what Marionette meant by that. He hadn't even remembered the comment after everything that had followed that confession. Suddenly that line meant something much more insidious.

"-And it changed everything. It wasn't long after that when the kids who did it vanished. I- Probably their parents wanted to get them away from the place, maybe. Maybe they weren't murdered, because nobody found any trace of them or anything. Right after that was when William left, or vanished. We weren't really surprised," the Phone Guy explained further.

"Why didn't anyone stop them?" Mike forced out the question. Fritz was looking at him, probably confused at why Mike was still stuck on the basic details. Mike was usually quicker, taking information and going, but this question was so standard. So unneeded. Though there was a good chance that he knew why Mike was so stunned, and he said nothing as the security guard sought the answer.

"I don't know. I don't think anyone saw it," the Phone Guy admitted. "They were around him constantly, and being that he was his brother… There were other events too, but nothing like this." In a way, he sounded ashamed to say it. Nobody had been able to step in and stop the event. "He kept getting 'accidently' locked in the back rooms and was terrified of the animatronics. Henry- If Henry was still there it would've never happened. Henry would've done something, or would've at least told William about it. Would've done something."

"But nobody did anything," Mike's voice betrayed his frustration. He gave a huff and lightly struck the counter, trying to keep himself in check. "Why didn't  _Fredrick_ do anything?" The Phone Guy was about to protest when Mike broke in, "And I know he wasn't working there, but he had to be somewhere. That kid was his son. Working at the business or not, he was in the area  _somewhere._ " He had never felt so angry at Fredrick. Even after everything he learned, all his questions, Mike had always stuck by the belief that Fredrick was honestly a good guy.

Even when the Phone Guy said that he thought he tried to threaten his life, Mike couldn't help but partially shrug it off as paranoia. Or, at least, hold some doubts. He had known Fredrick for the entire time he worked at Freddy's and had been treated well by him. He was the father figure he needed, rewarding him with the badge and praising his work, and there was never doubt in him. Until now; Mike couldn't understand how Fredrick, who Marionette portrayed as a good father, would allow this to happen without doing anything.

The Phone Guy's brows furrowed, "Fredrick? I think he mentioned he had kids once... but that boy, the crying child, that wasn't his son." He paused to raise his mug, "He was William's son."

There was an overbearing silence as he sipped the coffee. Fritz looked confused while Mike didn't have much of a reaction. Maybe confusion, but he was more certain that this was a mistake. "He was Fredrick's son. Fredrick was just probably hiding it, like he hides everything else," Mike clarified. "I'm pretty sure of it. He had his birth certificate and everything."

"No, he was William's son," the Phone Guy insisted. "He, uh, he was there all the time with his brother because their dad worked there. After Henry died he was there more often, so that probably made it worse." Mike still was skeptical until he added in. "Actually… Might have had other kids too. I know he had a daughter. Or I think he had a daughter, I think I saw a picture of a daughter in his office."

Something about the fact that he knew about a daughter when Fredrick hadn't even told him about a daughter,  _and that pink bedroom_ , made it sink a little harder. As though he suddenly realized that it was possible that Fredrick lied to him. But Marionette wouldn't lie, not about something like this. After all, William Afton was the owner of ARI, he could've very well created the animatronics to kidnap kids, and being that Phone Guy was alive… It was very possible that William Afton could be Purple Guy. Someone was in Springtrap; the actual killer had to be in Springtrap.

And William Afton was nowhere to be seen.

And Phone Guy just stated that he was Marionette's father.

"Okay, wait, my turn," Fritz volunteered. "Afton couldn't have been his father, he… I mean, Fredrick mentioned that his children died in accidents. He said that his son was this bite victim." He looked to Mike, "Right?" But Mike said nothing, because Fredrick had never clarified anything at all. Fredrick never admitted to anything.

"Hey, there's always a chance that I was wrong," the Phone Guy suggested. "But he used to drive the kid home sometimes, he said the kid was his, the child- sometimes when he was crying- he'd go latch onto William and just cry… But that was before he got really 'distracted'. Then he'd just cry under the tables." He bit his lip, "And I just realized how pitiful this all sounds." He hesitated and looked towards the floor. There was the fluffy cat wandering over. It stopped to rub against Phone Guy's legs, nuzzling its head into him as he pet it.

The room fell into silence. The Phone Guy pet his cat, Fritz stared at Phone Guy, and Mike returned his hand to his face. He didn't even know what to think. It couldn't be true. William Afton being the Purple Man was very possible and, seeing the circumstantial evidence laid out, seemed very likely. Even if this man known as 'Dave' was suspicious, Mike had blueprints that showed Afton's hand in kidnapping kids. If anything, they were probably working alongside each other, and that would make them equally guilty.

But Fredrick lying and William being Marionette's real father just didn't make sense. His motives wouldn't even make sense. Not to mention that Marionette had made it very clear that Fredrick was his father. It wouldn't make sense for him to cover for Afton, especially if there was a possibility that he was the Purple Man. He would've said something when they were in ARI. He wouldn't hide it.

Unless Marionette didn't know. In which case, Mike was going to need some hard liquor, and he was going to need it fast.

"If you'll excuse me," Mike suddenly announced, as even as he could state it. "I need to step outside and get some air, or I'm going to shove my head into an oven." Neither of them argued with him and he headed out into the living room and out the front door. Once outside, standing in the cold of the outside world, Mike tried to get his thoughts together.

" _Oh Mari…"_ Mike rubbed over his face again, as though it was a new reaction to stress. Now he knew exactly what Marionette had been hiding, along with some growing suspicions.  _"This Afton thing. This could be a mistake. Phone Guy could be wrong- If he was related to Fredrick in another way and just lied about it. I don't know enough to make a call like this."_ He dropped his arms tiredly and stared at the ground with an exhale. A few seconds of silence provided him with relief before his thoughts returned abruptly.

" _I can't tell him about this. Not now. Not until I get concrete proof. He can't even think this or this'll break him,"_ Mike insisted to himself. That was it; Marionette just couldn't know. That aside, there was what he learned about the bite, and suddenly a growing anger aimed towards Foxy.  _"That son of a bitch hasn't even mentioned it. He just got away with it and… If Afton was their father, and the Purple Man, then did he kill his older son out of vengeance?... Ugh, this just- This is going nowhere."_ His thoughts would just continue to move in circles.

"I need to get home to Mari," Mike audibly voiced to himself. "I can figure the rest of this out later. I need to get home now and just make sure he's still asleep."

The door started to open and Mike looked back to see Fritz standing there. "Hey, you doing okay?" he asked in concern.

"Yeah," Mike forced out. "It's… This is all too much to believe, but what else am I going to do?" He exhaled a puff of fogged air and looked to his friend. "You?"

"That cat in the kitchen has, like, twenty toes," Fritz randomly pointed out. "I almost laughed, so I needed to get some space. Laughing is the last thing I want to do when talking about, you know,  _this_."

"Do you think he's right?" Mike inquired quickly. "About Afton being Marionette's father? Because this could change everything." He jammed his hands in his pockets, "Especially if he doesn't know."

"I don't know what to think… But… But he was right about the threats," Fritz confirmed. Mike looked to him slowly and Fritz slowly shook his head. "That night when Fredrick kept me from calling for help, when he had me pry the suit off of him… He had this look in his eyes." He visibly shuddered and rubbed his hands together, as though freezing. "He had this… Cold… Bitter look in his eyes. Maybe, maybe him not getting help was just to torment Phone Guy longer." He then looked to Mike again, "He never told me he lived."

The security guard clenched his teeth a little tighter. "I should've known Fredrick was a liar."

"We can't tell-."

"No, Fritz. We both know it, so let's just get it out there. Fredrick lied about something. We can't say what, but we know that he did, and now he's been caught. Enough said," Mike firmly announced as he stared coldly into the street. He exhaled slowly, "But this father thing is only one of our problems. I'm more concerned about Foxy's childhood pastime."

"You're right…" Fritz nearly shuddered. "And it was Foxy, unless Fredrick had another kid."

"It was Foxy," Mike insisted. It had to be. This had to be why Foxy and Marionette acted so oddly around each other sometimes. This was what happened and this was how they coped with it. It didn't feel like enough to Mike. "I have to get home and check on him. All this… All of  _this_ has got me feeling pretty damn uneasy." He looked back to the house with an exhale. "But I need to see Phone Guy first." With that, he started back inside, and Fritz followed suit shortly afterwards.

"Hey," Mike announced as he entered the kitchen. Phone Guy was now opening a can of cat food for the two cats crowding his feet. Fritz had been right; the fluffier of the two had way too many toes and the bald one, as stated before, was completely bald except for a warming vest. "Sorry about taking off. I needed a minute."

"Don't worry about it. I totally get it- it's a lot of stuff to take in at once." He set the two-sided bowl on the floor and the cats eagerly ate from it. He limped over and sat back down at the table, across from Mike. "It's a lot of stuff to have to know. Sometimes I start thinking, especially when Fredrick was still alive, that someone was going to come in here one day and try to kill me. Just so that I wouldn't be able to say anything." He pointed out to the living room, "I have all the tapes I could get together, I have the things I know; it's easier if I'm not around."

"Trust me, nobody's coming after you," Mike insisted to him. "There's nobody left to come after you. Even most of the animatronics have been retired, or flat out destroyed." This wasn't exactly a reassurance to Mike, but it did seem to ease Phone Guy a little bit more. "Can I ask you a few more questions?"

"Of course!" Phone Guy was open as he had been before. Though he briefly wavered, "Uh, before we get off topic, what animatronics are at the Pizzeria you're running? Fritz mentioned Foxy, but he didn't mention any others- I mean, Foxy could probably support a business on his own. I don't know why they never did a Foxy spinoff chain."

Mike wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to mention Marionette right off the bat. From his reputation, Phone Guy was liable to react in a frenzy and shut down communication. "It's basically Foxy. We've been looking for more animatronics to use. Preferably ones that don't try to kill us, am I right?" he answered with a smirk. The other bought it and he continued, "So… Alright, first thing's first. Where have you been since that last tape you sent me?"

"Uh… Here, mostly," Phone Guy awkwardly remarked. "I'm sort of a shut in now. I can go out but I… don't really want to." He looked down to his cats, "I've become the neighborhood's crazy cat lady."

"Everyone has to make a living somehow. 'Whatever gets your name out there' is what I always say, and I don't know why," Mike remarked and then tried to think of what was most important to ask. It would be too weird to just keep asking questions. "What did you know about the rental animatronics?"

For a moment, Phone Guy looked perplexed, but then he followed with, "Which ones?"

Mike gave a quick description, "Ballora, a couple of different colored ones, Foxy and Freddy, and this clown-looking thing." He didn't even know if Ennard was worth describing. Instead, he went straight to the mask. "They had these faceplates that moved on their own."

"You mean Circus Baby?" Phone Guy responded in questioning.

Mike gave a shrug and a noncommittal, "Sure, why not."

"There was a place a while back called Pizza Baby's Circus World. It was sort of a spinoff of Freddy's." He coughed and lowered his voice, "Which may or may not have been funded by William. It's not my place to say." Mike wasn't surprised and remained stoic faced. "Because Freddy's was going through some bad times and, uh, something had to give. They built the restaurant and, I think, had a party there… And then it just closed. They said there was a gas leak, but they started to move things out and act pretty shady about the whole thing."

"Are you saying that Pizza Baby's wasn't a legitimate company?" Mike couldn't help but do it. Especially when the Phone Guy left himself open to it, he had to do it, and did it with a smirk.

"Circus Baby, uh, I do that, sorry," Phone Guy remarked with his own amusement. Though his hands seemed to be shaking a little more than earlier. "So, uh… Back on topic; the place is right over there if you ever want to see it. Literally right over there, but I think it's been bought by someone else now."

"And the animatronics are down in Afton's abandoned building," Mike continued. "If you never want to sleep again, I have a few blueprints you might like seeing." This got a chuckle out of the older male. Either he thought he was joking or simply didn't grasp the severity of what could be on the blueprints. "But were they ever at Freddy's?"

"I never saw them, but they probably were. Even after William was gone, he had a big influence on Freddy's, so making his own pizza chain- Don't think for a second that he was done with Freddy's." Phone Guy was certain of what he was saying. There was no doubt in his mind or words.

"Last question and then I'll stop quizzing you," Mike promised. "I'm sorry, it's just so hard finding someone who's not dodgy, lying, or completely oblivious to everything." The older waved it off and the security guard considered his next question. The more logical thing would be to ask him what his name was, but Mike had a feeling that they had gone too far for that.  _"I'll just ask Fritz later…Instead… Instead, maybe Mari's keeping something else quiet."_ His focus shifted again, "Whatever happened to that puppet-looking animatronic?"

The Phone Guy clenched visibly and Mike's brow raised. "You know, you could've asked me about anything else and I would've been fine. Really, I wasn't that uncomfortable talking about William's kids and the accidents. Baby's? No, fine, but then you just- You have to bring up the Puppet," he finished with a shudder. "That, uh, was one of the toy animatronics. They had face recognition, but were defective and shipped off to be scrapped for something else. I'm guessing that's where it went."

"I take it that you didn't like the Puppet?"

" _No._ Never trusted it. It was always, just, it was always looking like it was waiting. Or like it was plotting something, and it  _always_ had that look. Even during the day, it would stare down the adults, the workers, me." Before Mike could as questions, Phone Guy broke into a story. "Once I was working the night shift and it, the Puppet, was still there. I had accidently let the music box wind out and was going to wind it and it was just halfway out of the box, staring me down." He shuddered, "It was five and it wouldn't leave with me watching it, so I watched it for an hour as it… Stared at me."

Then, with a final statement, he clarified, "I still here 'Pop Goes the Weasel' in my sleep." Yet with everything he said, Mike felt no fear. If anything, he felt a sort of endearment, but mostly because of this pattern of behavior he had seen. Marionette was clearly dangerous and yet… Somehow his thoughts managed to circle back to the bite.

The urge to run home to Marionette was back, and it was only intensified by the Phone Guy's tale. "Was just wondering if you kept tabs on where it went."

"How did you know about the Puppet?" Phone Guy asked in confusion. "It wasn't around by time you were in the office. Did Fritz tell you, or…?"

"Fredrick had files on the animatronics. I got a lot of my information from there." It wasn't an entire lie, but it wasn't all of the truth. He began to stand, preparing to give Phone Guy a brief goodbye and head back home. However, he found himself stopping in place. Maybe all this truth telling made him more emotional, but something was nagging at him, and he knew he had to say more.

"I'm… I'm glad you're alive. I checked those back rooms like you asked, but there was nothing there… Realistically, I couldn't tell how long ago your tape was made." Mike ran his fingers through his dark hair and hoped the motion would perform some sort of self-comfort. "I kind of considered you a friend in a way. You saved my life with your information, and I only regretted that I couldn't save yours… Which I guess loses its dramatic effect with you being alive," he sent him a playful smile. "And I don't know where I'm going with this, so I'll just end it with thank you, and you're welcome at Foxy's whenever. I'll even get you a free pizza; just don't tell Fritz, because he'll be cooking it."

"Sounds good to me," Phone Guy gave a small smile back. "And you're welcome… I'm glad that out of all those tapes, one of them made a difference."

And it had. More than Phone Guy even realized.

Mike stepped out of the house as Fritz stepped in. "We'll do coffee some other time?" Mike inquired as he started towards his car.

"Sure. I'll call you later…" The technician hesitated for a moment. "…I don't think you should tell Mari. " He actually was concerned, but he knew that there was no way he was as concerned as Mike was. Just from the way the security guard hesitated, it was clear that he was undecided.

"That's the plan for the moment," Mike responded, then looked directly to Fritz. "But when it comes to that then just let me handle it." Because Mike knew that it would eventually come around. Eventually Marionette would hear word of Phone Guy's theory, eventually he would react to it, and then Mike would have to fix the damage. He was ignorant enough to believe that this was the end of what he heard, especially when he would eventually have to ask why Marionette left out certain details about the bite.

"I think that would be best. You know him better than we do. You two are pretty close," Fritz ended this sentence with a cough. "Take care driving. The roads still aren't completely dry."

"You too," Mike answered and then got into his car. He felt heavy as he slowly pulled out of the driveway and started back towards the house. He had gotten quite a few answers, but he didn't know if they were necessarily answers that he wanted. For once in his life, Mike's curiosity was sated, but it was only because he didn't want to hear anymore.

For now, he needed to get back home. He would figure out the rest later.


	40. Chapter 40

It felt out of place to enter the house and not have Marionette immediately greet him. Mike knew he was probably still asleep, but it felt abnormal to not have him nearby. Especially considering everything that he had learned from Phone Guy. If anything, he wished that the animatronic was with him, because then he would feel less uncomfortable. With a slow exhale, he shut the door, locked it, and headed towards the hallway to find him.

" _Don't mention the Afton thing, wait on the bite until later, pretend like everything's fine,"_ Mike mentally reminded himself as he opened the bedroom door. The light was still off and the box was still closed, but the music box had wound down.

" _It's been a while… He's slept long enough,"_ he self-encouraged and approached the box. Slowly he lifted the flaps and stared into the box. Through the shadows blocked him off and the plush toys obscured him, Mike could see Marionette still folded into the box, face turned away.  _"Just don't think about it. This is Mari; he's not a child anymore."_ He meant that in more way than one as he stared down at him. With a slow exhale, he reached down and laid a hand on the puppet's shoulder.

There was a shift in the black fabric before Marionette turned to look upwards at Mike. Apparently, he was at least somewhat awake before he came to wake him. He looked upwards with interest and Mike noticed quickly that he hadn't said anything. He paused for a moment, staring down into the box with a tense mouth.  _"Say something or he's going to be weirded out,"_ Mike mentally scolded himself. It took him a few seconds to finally get out actual words.

"Hey…" Mike hesitantly began. "Feeling more awake now?" He managed a relatively normal smile as he asked the animatronic. From the way the animatronic slowly dragged himself upwards, stretching tiredly, he seemed to have not noticed Mike's odd behavior. Looking over at him, his smile regained its usual luster.

"I am. How was Fritz?" he asked without any suspicion. Mike chose his words extremely carefully.

"He's doing good. We shot the breeze, bumped into a friend of his, basic stuff," Mike answered in a dodgy fashion. He then set out a new offer on the table. "How about we do something? We've got time to kill and nothing better to do. When's the last time that we got any free time?" Before the other could respond, he added in, "Christmas doesn't count. I spent too long at the store for it to count."

Marionette seemed immediately eager towards the offer and chimed in delight as he slipped out of the box. "I would love that! Anything you have in mind?"

It was hard pretending that there wasn't another reason why he was doing it. Not that he wouldn't want to spend time with Marionette, but the information he knew was weighing on him. "You decide. Anything you want to do." Maybe he gave the puppet too much power, as he quipped a brow in interest and gave another chime, one more thoughtfully slow.

"Anything… Hmm…" Something sounded a little too focused in his voice. With another chime, he approached his bed and reached underneath. Mike expected anything other than what Marionette brought out from under the bed, which was what looked to be a board game box. That was, until he turned around to reveal the cartoon Freddy Fazbear on the front.

"There was a  _board game?_ " Mike asked in disbelief. "There weren't even more than a handful of restaurants. How was there a board game?"

"It was a prize at the Prize Corner. Very high ticket value; only a handful were ever exchanged for. You know how children are with tickets," Marionette responded with an eager smile. He clearly wanted to play the game and, unfortunately, Mike set himself up for this. "I haven't played it in years! I maybe played it once with father." He knelt on the floor and set the game's box down between them.

"So, what is this, a rip-off of monopoly?" Mike asked as he sat down as well. There was no point in resisting if this was truly what the puppet wanted to do.

"Relatively close," Marionette lightly shrugged and opened the box. Inside was a folded board, tokens, various cards, paper money, and small plastic figures. "Now the game is very simple," he unfolded the colorful board on the floor. "We need to get to the pizzeria, but we need enough tokens to enter. Tokens are randomly spread around the board and can be bought with money, that we collect from circling the board and events. We roll the dice to see who goes first and- here." He placed a figure in front of Mike. "You can be Bonnie and I'll be Freddy."

This wasn't the Bonnie that Mike was familiar with. With the half-hearted paintjob, it sort of resembled the toy version that Mike saw pictures and parts of. Regardless, he didn't argue, and was only relieved that neither of them had to play a Foxy character, toy or not. There was still that nagging irritation in the back of his mind towards the fox animatronic, or towards the person that he used to be. It felt odd being angry at what had been a child at the time and was now a fox suit around a metal endoskeleton, but Mike wasn't planning on talking himself out of it.

He had to change the subject for his own good. "Goldie ever play this with you?" Marionette looked to him suddenly, but his face didn't change as he stared. There had to be some sort of surprise, but not enough to affect his look. This wasn't a trick question though. This was simply out of curiosity, as Marionette practically never spoke in detail about Goldie.

"…No, he didn't," Marionette finally admitted. "Goldie and I didn't play games. Or, we didn't after I left childhood. Which was a shame; I would've loved to continue playing games with the others, but Goldie was constantly obsessed with-…Well, I don't need to tell you what he had us doing every night."

Mike watched the board, as though engulfed with interest in setting up the game, but this was simply so he didn't seem too eager. He had a feeling that talking about Golden Freddy was just as risky as nudging around the event of the bite itself. There was some sort of reason that he didn't talk about him that much, and now knowing about the bite… Mike couldn't trust that Marionette was telling all of the truth.

"Nah, I figured that much out," Mike pointed out. "I was just seeing what past players I was competing in the shadow of."

Marionette handed over some cards and paper money. "I wouldn't worry about that, Mike! It's not a difficult game," he pointed out. Then, amused by the comment, he adds in, "And don't feel second to Goldie. I owe him my life, he was my closest friend… But he was a stick in the mud." Mike's brows raised at the comment and Marionette chimed in amusement.

Then the game officially begun. Mike learned quickly in the first turn that this was, indeed, some sort of Monopoly rip-off. The only difference being that there was a specific goal in mind instead of just buying properties and collecting money. There were about fifteen turns before Mike started to realize that the game was not going well for him. Suddenly he was beginning to wonder if there was another reason why Golden Freddy had outright refused to play the game, because Mike had collected only one token and was somehow down to only a quarter of his cash.

"If I land in the water, I'm broke," Mike remarked as he rolled the dice. Somehow, he dodged the water penalty, but landed on a space that didn't reward either. "I don't know where my money's going, but I don't remember Fazbear tokens being this expensive. No wonder kids aren't getting enough tickets to buy this thing; they can't even get into the front door without dropping a grand."

"Half a pound of tupenny rice, half a pound of treacle.~" Marionette playfully sung as he rolled his dice and moved his character along. "That's the way the money goes…~" He landed on an event space, grabbed a card, scanned it, and added in, "All players owe me a twenty.~"

"You're eating me out of house and home, Mari," Mike lamented. "I'm too broke to buy rice at this point. That's where the money's going." Yet the game didn't seem anywhere near being over. It didn't help that the floor wasn't exactly comfortable for long stretches of time either. Though Marionette seemed happy enough playing the game. This made up for some of his less than impressed feelings.

The game ended in the most anticlimactic way possible. Mike was stuck in jail and Marionette secured the last token he needed, effectively winning the game.

"If this is what Freddy has to go through to go to work, then I get why he gets his kicks slaughtering night guards. At least we didn't have to pay to get in," Mike pointed out with a light smirk.

"Good game," Marionette remarked with a smile. "You may have better luck the second time around."

"Yeah, no." Mike stiffly pushed himself off the floor. "You're limited on one game a night. Bonnie'll have to stay in jail." He looked over in time to see Marionette giving a slight frown, lips pressed tightly together and smile all but missing. He didn't necessarily look angry, but he seemed less than impressed about Mike's resistance. Almost like a petulant child pouting at not getting his way, even though Marionette was much too old to be doing such.

And Mike would be damned, but it was effective today.

"There's got to be something else worth doing," Mike pointed out in a desperate ply to get away from a second round of the board game. Marionette considered this, tapping his fingers on the floor and considering the possibilities.

Then he finally perked and spoke, "There is something I have been meaning to show you." His smile suddenly reappeared on his face once more. "It's in the attic. Wait here." Then he was gone. Mike took the time to quickly toss all the game pieces back into the box and shove it back under the bed, hoping that this would keep the animatronic from asking for a game later. He shoved the box under the bed and turned back to see Marionette waiting there with a new box, just watching his desperate efforts.

Mike found that the best thing to do was to completely ignore what he had done. Instead, he looked towards the dusty box that the striped male was holding. It looked like an old shoe box, but wasn't labelled or printed on. "What's in there?"

"Oh, I just thought I'd get out another board game, since you loved that one so much," Marionette quipped back. He passed by him to sit on the bed. "Now we will need to be careful with these, but I think you're old enough to handle them." He chimed in a playful manner and beckoned him over. He opened the lid of the box and revealed the tissue paper tucked inside. "These belonged to my grandparents. I never met them, and I wasn't allowed to play with these when I was little, so this is sort of new to me too."

He drew out a set of small, wooden puppets from the box. One of them resembled a jester while the other resembled a princess. They were dressed in stiff clothing that looked like it would disintegrate with too much touching or movement. The jester's face looked freakish, but this could've been because the paint has started to flake off. Marionette handed over the jester doll.

"Be gentle. Their strings should still work, but their bodies may be fragile," Marionette warned as he handed over the body. "My mother loved these puppets. I think she grew up with them. She had to of, I suppose. I doubt her parents kept them in the attic like father did." He didn't notice Mike's inward cringe at the mention of Fredrick. "I wasn't too disappointed to become a puppet, even though it's fully unconnected to these little dolls, but I was a little confused to look like this instead of like these."

"I think you got lucky. You could've looked like this guy," Mike playfully remarked as he took the puppet doll's two crosses in his hands and fiddled around with them. "Sock monkey is a lot better than scary, child eating jester." This got another frown from Marionette while Mike smirked, "Give it up, Mari. You're a sock monkey. You have the look, you have the buttons, you have the stripes- the monkey even goes with the 'Pop Goes the Weasel' thing. You know it's true, so don't give me that look." Overconfidence dripped from him.

Marionette looked down at the puppet in his lap with that same, frowning, pursed lip look.

"And what's your issue about it anyway? A sock monkey is literally a little plush think meant for kids to play with- which, might I add, is exactly what you are." Now Mike was more serious about it, even if it sounded patronizing. "It's not like I'm comparing you to this guy or something." Marionette responded dismissively under his breath and his focus shifted to the wooden doll in Mike's grasp. He seemingly became focused on the way he handled the strings.

The Puppet himself lapsed into silence and allowed himself to be entranced by the stiff, simplistic movements of the tiny doll. It made him feel odd, considering that he was looking in at a puppet when he was also one, but there was something hypnotic in watching the gentle tug of the strings.

Mike noticed and glanced over at the animatronic. His curiosity piqued and the previous sock monkey discussion was smoothly dealt away with. He continued trying to manipulate the disfigured doll. By now he figured out which strings did the basics of movement and continued to fiddle with the doll.

"You're a natural," Marionette praised, then reached out to touch his hands. "Let me show you…" He laid his hands on Mike's and started to carefully adjust the male's grip, knowing exactly which strings were which. "If you hold it like this then it's easier to work the subtler of movements," he explained his actions. "But I had a feeling you would take to this quickly. It's all a matter of hand-eye coordination."

Mike got a slight smile of amusement, "It's a good skill to learn if that track ever gives out. We might have to improvise."

Marionette gave a chime in response. He said nothing more, but he gave Mike's hands a soft squeeze in response. He didn't remove his hands and Mike, at first, tried to show that he could clearly puppeteer and didn't need the guidance. It became apparent soon that the animatronic had no intention of releasing him.

Normally, Mike would've questioned this action, but he decided not to. Somewhat because of earlier, maybe because it could've been an apologetic gesture, but mostly because it was relatively innocent. Though it couldn't last; Mike knew he was pressing his luck fiddling with the wooden doll this long and knew, at any second, it could fall apart. He returned it to the box, noticing that Marionette had not touched the puppets beyond initial interactions with them. As far as Mike was concerned, he assumed it was just another 'Mari quirk'.

"You want to do another movie night?" Mike offered. Slowly the thoughts he had been ignoring starting to return. Puppets, childhood, heads being crushed by metal teeth; he knew it was going to come back and the urge to ask about the bite was overwhelming. "I could run to the video store and be back only in a couple of minutes."

"I would like that," Marionette remarked before tilting his head. "Is everything alright? You're starting to get that look again."

"What look?" Paranoia started to seep in.

"That distant look. Did something happen with Fritz?" The only reason that Mike knew Marionette didn't know what happened was because he knew the Puppet wouldn't have been nearly as calm. There was no way he would smoothly take the information in.

"No, it's just…" Mike hesitated, considering what he was going to say, and then exhaled slowly. He took one of Marionette's hands and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry about it. Let's just have a good time, okay?" Marionette glanced down at the hand squeezing back at his. Mike wondered if the puppet would continue to question, but instead he seemed somewhat sated by the answer. Or at least was distracted by Mike hand holding enough to not question further.

Though Mike stood and got ready to leave. "I won't be gone long," he insisted as he prepared to leave. "You got a preference in what you want?" Things seemed to ease quite a bit since he reassured the animatronic. Marionette returned to his previous bubbliness and kept close to his human companion.

"Just whatever you think we would like. It doesn't matter what kind," Marionette insisted as he helpfully handed over Mike's jacket to him. "Just don't keep me waiting too long." His voice was edging on sing-song, but had yet to return to the point it had been during the game. He watched as Mike made his leave and drove off, loyally watching by the window. Marionette was feeling a growing suspicion that something was being kept from him by Mike's apparent behavior.

Not that he would complain. He was thrilled that he wanted to spend more time together, even if it was just a day thing. Tomorrow they would be returning to the work, so it wasn't as though tonight could run on indefinitely. That being said, it was obvious that something was still going on. Mike just continued to drift off into these odd moments of silence, as though he was distracted. His hand tightened, the one that Mike had squeezed, and he felt tingling along his body. Perhaps this strange behavior wasn't necessarily a bad thing…

It didn't take Mike very long to return. He came in with a bag of movies and two boxes of Chinese takeout. In the short drive, Mike had managed to return to his earlier, upbeat self. It was as though nothing had ever been wrong. "They were pretty cleared out," he raised a plastic box, "but I still managed to find a movie about evil puppets, so you asked for this." His smirk was obvious as he handed over the tape. "If that jester isn't in this movie, I'll be mildly surprised and at least a little disappointed."

Marionette looked over the tape curiously with a hum as Mike opened one of the boxes. "I'm impressed! And curious; let me put it in," Marionette volunteered and headed into the living room. It seemed like things had returned to their previous normality. Hopefully, the night would continue as expected.

The movie went over well. While not especially scary, Marionette had been especially interested in it. Mostly because the movie dealt with living toys, souls in living toys, and a rather happy ending- putting aside the darker fates of the movie's antagonists. Mike decided to not voice this opinion as Marionette was clearly happy with the movie. While he was switching out for a second one, Mike considered using this time to ask about the bite or something. It was the perfect segue; the story was literally about people turning into puppets.

…But he couldn't do it. He couldn't risk it somehow arriving at Phone Guy's theory. Even though it had to be wrong, as Marionette knew the difference between his father and the Purple Man, he worried it would bother him. Asking about the bite, about Foxy, was also entirely out of the question. Mike didn't want to ruin this; he had somehow managed to secure a successful evening.

"Which one next?" Marionette casually asked, gesturing to the video stack on the floor. He didn't care which one came next after that one; it practically sated him for the entire evening. "The vampire one?"

"Sure, why not?" Mike casually remarked. "I'm not really into vampires, but there's always a chance it'll be good." It couldn't be as bad as the soap opera that occasionally ran reruns on TV, so he was willing to risk it. As Marionette slid the tape in, he found himself slipping and asking. "So, you liked the movie."

"I loved it!" Marionette chirped in response.

"Good. The last thing I wanted was to end up offending you or something," Mike admitted as he stretched out on the couch. "Are you happy?" He expected a chirp of a reply, a smile, and for the animatronic to continue setting the movie up. Instead, the puppet hesitated, and then softly asked.

"You don't mean with tonight, do you?" Mike didn't respond as Marionette had seen right through him. "Mike, don't think so much into my feelings for the movie. I enjoyed it because it's a horror movie, because of living toys and childhood wonder, not because I see myself as a character." He turned back to Mike. He was smiling differently than usual and it was slightly hard to make out the smile with his mouth closed. Still, it was there in full. "There's been some tough times, but I feel like I'm right where I belong. That  _you_ are right where you belong as well."

It was very honest and open. Mike tried to ignore the incessant pounding in his chest trying to rat him out for what he knew. "Glad to hear it… If I wake up tomorrow morning in a doll body, we're going to have a few problems," Mike joked to ease the mood. It didn't work on the agonizing tension inwardly. "But in all seriousness, I just was thinking about it."

"Keep in mind that I'm not a human in a puppet's body," Marionette reminded, "but a puppet who used to be a human. I grew up just like I would've before, I just did it differently." He said all of this so easily. As though he held no ill will again his  _brother who savagely murdered him._

" _Keep your cool, Schmidt,"_ Mike mentally reminded himself.  _"Look, Mari's happy. Let's not ruin that with a bunch of garbage from years ago. We've got something better going on."_ With this confidence boost, Mike slid onto the floor beside Marionette. "Well, I nearly killed the evening."

"You couldn't be further from the truth, Mike. I'm stillhappy… Although," he to face the floor, so Mike couldn't see most of his face. He still detected a smile. "It's not as though you asked me to dance tonight."

"I guess there's that…" The awkwardness from the morning returned with a vengeance, but Mike still gave a teasing smile, "I seem to recall you asking me to dance, not the other way."

A moment passed before Marionette coyly offered, "We could slide the couch forward and then have more than enough room between it and the kitchen." He then looked to Mike with a smaller smile. It was full of suggestion and pleading, and Mike couldn't say no.

While Marionette was happy, so was Mike. That's all he needed.

* * *

Mike awoke abruptly to knocking on the front door. The room was dark, the TV was stuck paused on a movie, and Marionette was standing in the entrance to the hallway, standing in his default stance as a reaction. The security guard straightened and looked towards the front door, as though he would be able to look through and see the person who was knocking on the door. Staggering to his feet, Mike waved Marionette to move back down the hall, then directly pointed towards his bedroom door. With further explanation unneeded, Marionette vanished.

"I'm coming," Mike called as he made his way over and unlocked the door. He checked his wristwatch on the way; it was twelve twenty-five. Regardless, he opened the door, and his blood went cold. There stood none other than Phone Guy and Mike knew he was on thin ice. Marionette wouldn't stay in the other room forever and he couldn't imagine what would happen if he saw the man. "Uh, hey…" He also had no idea what his name was. "Didn't expect to see you. Especially not after Midnight."

"Sorry. I didn't realize it was that late…" the Phone Guy already looked uneasy. "Can I come in?"

Mike inhaled, considered his options, and then opened the door. "Yeah, sure. Come in." Hopefully, Marionette would keep inside his room. He let the older man in before shutting the door back. "What's going on?... And I should probably ask how you got the address," he asked. That was a good question and he continued by asking, "Was it Fritz?"

"No, no. He left hours ago, I just… I've been here before, and Fritz did mention you inherited the house so… Yeah…" Suddenly Phone Guy was a lot more reserved than he had been earlier in the day. Mike didn't take this as a good sign. "We're… We're being honest, right? We're not just saying we're being honest and covering ourselves, yeah? Because I was thinking about some… Some things after you left…" He looked to Mike, who sent a confused look in return. "And, uh, I was thinking that there was something a little too… Coincidental."

"What do you mean by that? If you mean me showing up at your place, Fritz gave me the number, and if you mean what I know about what happened to you, I got that all from your tapes. I got a lot of what I know from your tapes. Like the Springlock mechanics," Mike tried to change the direction of the conversation. "Now maybe I'm hearing this the wrong way, but you're sounding like you suspect me of something… Which is fine." Mike shrugged casually enough, "To be honest, I thought you were the murderer for a while."

"I was just thinking- What?!" Phone Guy's face suddenly contorted in shock. "I- Why would you think that?! I-I would never hurt children!"

"It was literally just a 'right place, right time' sort of thing. I didn't start suspecting it until I realized you and the Springlock- It's a long story." The last thing he wanted was to talk about Golden Bonnie. "It was a working theory. You suspect everyone until you can start disproving things."

"I get it… I guess, when you think about it, I was a candidate. I was there a long time a-and I knew the ins and outs of the company, but believe me, the only thing I'm guilty of is keeping quiet so long," Phone Guy swore. Mike believed him as he sounded extremely convincing. Though Phone Guy continued, "But I was just thinking- after you left- that something didn't add up right." He looked directly to Mike, the suspicion becoming a little more visible in his eyes, and Mike challenged it with a raised brow.

"You were close to Fredrick, you inherited his house, you know all about the business… I just had to wonder why you'd be so interested in this whole thing, like Freddy's and the accidents… And then I thought, maybe, William once mentioned that his son- I think it was the oldest one, but I don't remember if it was the one at the restaurant- that his son's name was something like Mick or Mathew… Or Michael." The other brow raised abruptly and Mike looked completely dumbfounded. "And it started to click that maybe-."

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Mike raised his hands in defense. "I hope you're not implying what I think you are, but I'm just going to say, flat out, that you're wrong."

"You know about Afton's, you know about Baby's," Phone Guy pointed out, "you know about Baby in Afton's. You're in  _this house_. It just all makes sense."

"No, it doesn't!" Mike protested further. "William's kids are all dead, we literally had this talk a couple of hours ago, and you think I'm- related to him?" That left a sour taste in his mouth. Just saying it made him feel filthy. "Alright, forget it, I'll fix this right now." As he delved into his wallet, Phone Guy continued.

"I don't even know how many children he had, but his oldest son, the one I did know, went 'missing'. Just around the same time that William himself left the business…" He exhaled slowly, "I'm- I'm not trying to accuse you. And, hey, even if you are it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't make you him or anything, or involved in anything shady, it's just- And then you were so upset when we were talking about the bitten child. When I mentioned he was William's son."

"I don't need that stigma attached to me. It's bad enough that I still got a screwed up back from falling through his shoddy floor," Mike pointed out as he viciously dug in his wallet. "And yeah, I was upset. Nobody told me about- Here, look at this." He handed over a photo; childhood him with his parents. " _Those_ are my parents. If you don't believe me, I can go find my birth certificate, and if you don't believe  _that_ , then I can call Mom and she'll tell you herself. I'm not related to Afton  _at all._ " He couldn't help but be overly defensive about this.

Phone Guy looked to the photo and, seemingly, believed it. He looked a bit flustered afterwards. "Oh geez… I'm sorry, I didn't- I just thought with the name and the information-."

"It's fine," Mike started to calm back down, waiting before getting the photo back. He glanced at it before sliding it into his wallet. "I thought you were the murderer, you think I'm Afton's son, we still have no confirmation on Fredrick; it happens." An awkward silence filled the room as he put his wallet away. "And to answer your question, I don't know why I got so wrapped in this Freddy's thing. I needed the job to pay off medical bills and just… I don't know; Fredrick gave me this place because he liked me, probably because I kept coming back to work."

"That's, uh, that's an appreciated trait at Freddy's," Phone Guy pointed out with a strained smile. Mike got one as well. The room felt a little too heavy. Mike felt like he needed to say something, but he wasn't sure what exactly to say. Then something that Phone Guy said came back to mind.

"I'm in this house…" he murmured as Phone Guy looked to him. "I'm in this house; what does that mean?" When Phone Guy didn't immediately respond, Mike fell to his own conclusion. "Don't tell me. This wasn't always Fredrick's house, was it?" He didn't even need confirmation before raising his hands, again almost defensively, and turning to the fridge. "I should've expected that." He opened the fridge, glancing around for something to ease his dried throat, and was stuck between cold, leftover coffee and overly sugary soda.

Then it suddenly hit him. Mike felt a flinch; it was hard to describe, but he literally felt something in the room twitch. As though something had suddenly changed and- He slammed the door shut and turned towards the Phone Guy. "Look, I don't want to rush you out of here, but you have to go." Phone Guy looked surprised as Mike moved in. "I'll tell you later, you just need to get outside  _now_ and-." But it was too late.

Mike could barely remember the last time he felt so much dread from hearing 'Pop Goes the Weasel'.


	41. Chapter 41

Mike didn't even have a chance to step in.

Suddenly the black blur launched by and struck into the Phone Guy. He was immediately knocked off balance, struggling to grip at the table and falling to the floor heavily. The chair fell over, knocked aside by the struggle, and Phone Guy's back heavily hit the ground. He looked upwards in terror at the white face staring down at him and tried to fight against the hands clawing at him. Marionette was crazed, entirely out of control, and his hands were already going for Phone Guy's neck.

Mike didn't wait another moment and was suddenly in the quarrel. He grabbed ahold of the animatronic's frame from behind, yanking him back.

"Wait, no! This isn't- Stop! Let go of him!" Mike was practically begging. The last thing he wanted was to try and physically fight the puppet. The second he started to tug the animatronic back, the song echoing from his chest changed, wavered, and carried an odd undertone. As though he was crying out in frustration, and Mike suspected that it was aimed towards himself primarily. Somehow Marionette pushed forward and was back on Phone Guy.

Marionette's wires started to slide out and, in a moment of franticness, Mike tried to tangle his hands into the ones at his shoulders. He then tightened his grip and yanked back; as he expected, Marionette actually faltered to his own strings. This was just like during the fight with Golden Bonnie, though this time the puppet was much less intimidated. By now Phone Guy was hysterical, trying to keep the animatronic off as it finally got one hand on his neck. Static started to fill the room. He gave a coughing choke, Mike gave another tug, and then-.

The puppet suddenly vanished.

Mike was caught so off-guard by the strings disappearing from his hands that he stumbled back against the wall. Phone Guy clutched at his neck, sputtering and babbling in a frantic panic. However, Mike was more concerned by the fact that Marionette was suddenly gone. He could expect him to return and attack at any time, but he knew that he had to find him for his own sake. He could only hope that Marionette hadn't heard everything, but from his immediate aggression…

"Are you okay?!" Mike blurted out and Phone Guy's answer was a rambling spill of words. "Okay, okay, just- you'll be fine, just- I have to go look for him, you might want to leave." Mike didn't want to seem coarse, but he had no doubt that if the older man stayed he would be attacked again. Phone Guy scrambled to his feet and started out of the door. Mike desperately called after him, "I got this under control! Please don't sue or tell anyone  _please_!" There wasn't much of an answer before he got out the door.

In an instant, the security guard was sprinting down the hall and barged into Marionette's bedroom. There was no need to keep looking, as the puppet was waiting for him. The first cue that Mike had that it wasn't just Phone's Guy presence that set him off was that, when he entered, Marionette was facing away from him. Even after he shut the door behind him and stood there, Marionette absolutely refused to face him. It was then that Mike realized something much more telling.

It was completely silent. No music, no static, just complete quietness.

"Mari…" Mike didn't know how to approach this situation. Was he supposed to be angry, as Marionette attacked an innocent person? Was he supposed to feel guilty, because of his withheld information? As he stood there, staring at the animatronic's back, he was still feeling panic. This could ruin everything. "…How much did you hear?" There was no response. "…Okay, I'll admit it, I wasn't completely honest about what happened earlier. The friend Fritz introduced me to was him and he's… You recognize his voice, you know who he is."

No answer.

"And he's clearly not the Purple Guy," Mike insisted. "I mean, he's alive, so that's evidence that… Yeah…" He rubbed at his hair, staring at Marionette's back. This quietness was killing him. "Say something… Or at least face me."

"I can't," that was all that Marionette could say. His voice was rather blank in tone and completely unreadable.

"Alright, then just- What did you hear?" Mike was desperate. "Phone Guy said a lot of things and a lot of them are wrong. He thought I was- and you know I'm not- related to Afton. Unbelievable, right?" Forced casual tone, forced smile, blank staring. There wasn't an immediate response. "…Come on, don't shut down on me, Mari. I… We've survived too much for this. I didn't tell you- I kept this from you, but I just…" He inhaled; time to be honest. "I didn't want to tell you about Phone Guy because I didn't… I didn't want to tell you what he thought."

There was still silence for a few seconds. Mike leaned back against the door, his back thumping against it as he stared across the room at the animatronic. It was a brief stalemate.

"He thinks that William Afton is my father. I heard him say that," Marionette blankly stated. His voice, again, was overfilled with apathy.

"Just because he says that-."

"Mike," Marionette interrupted him, "There is something I didn't tell you." The room felt uncomfortably hot, cramped, and unyielding. Mike could only watch and wait. "Down while we were in ARI, I found something…" He didn't face him, but he raised his hand to his face. "There were rooms down there that were made in a shameless display. Bedrooms, fake walkways, a fake restaurant, all put together as though a set for a play… My bedroom was one of those rooms. It looked similar to this room, very similar."

Mike's look was dumbfounded at best. "William Afton knew my bedroom. His knew this house. He knew more about the bite than I told you," Marionette explained. His body shook and his hands tightened. "Mike, Phone Guy was right. William Afton had to have been my father. It is the only thing that would explain my bedroom being in his playground." Mike didn't know if he agreed with this, but this statement certainly changed a few things. This made it seem at least a little more believable. Marionette was taking it surprisingly well.

Though, then again, he couldn't see Marionette's face.

"Mari, I'm sorry," Mike didn't know what else to say.

"You didn't tell me," Marionette spoke, his voice finally revealing some betrayal on it. "You lied to me."

"I know and it was a stupid thing to do," Mike admitted. "But Mari, the only reason I did it was because I just- I couldn't  _stand_ telling you that. I didn't want to tell you that." He looked towards the floor. "It was cowardly. I know that and I'm ashamed of myself…" Then his blue eyes locked back on the animatronic; the time was now. "But you didn't tell me things either. You didn't tell me what really happened to you."

The noise that Marionette made was wrenching. A slight gasping noise, like an off-tune sigh, and his hand returned to his face. He said nothing, but this was enough to reveal that he wasn't as put together as he was acting. Mike finally moved in closer, watching as Marionette straightened to cover himself again.

"Look at me, Mari. I want to see your face.  _Please_ ," Mike insisted, feeling much less subdued. Suddenly he had to step in because it was obvious that the puppet wasn't as together as he made himself seem. It took a few minutes for the animatronic to respond. He just sat there, staring at the wall, and then slowly turned around. Mike could finally see his face.

Which meant that Mike could finally see the devastated look on Marionette's face, and the fresh purple tears that were starting to drip down his front. This was what Mike expected and it did hurt. It hurt to see that look and to see that utter horror. "Oh Mari…" He didn't restrain himself; he reached forward to take Marionette's face into his hands. He couldn't remember ever touching the puppet's mask this much, or possibly at all, as Marionette was constantly protecting it so much. Mike couldn't reign himself in; he had to give some sort of comfort.

The animatronic shuddered in his grasp and slowly raised a hand- purple stained as Mike now noticed- and laid it on one of Mike's. He welcomed the human's touch.

"I just didn't want to hurt you," Mike admitted as he tried to wipe away some of the purple tears with his thumb. Again, Marionette flinched in his grasp, but he didn't remove his hand. The human could feel the porcelain fluidly shift under his fingers as Marionette tried to hold himself together beyond the silent weeping. "I thought I was protecting you, even if it was for a couple of hours." Yet he had somehow managed to still find himself in the same situation. He coaxed the male closer, "It's going to be okay. We've been through worse."

At this point, Marionette gave up. He clung to Mike, who quickly wrapped his arms around him to hold him close, and began to sob. He emanated static, off-key chords, and the occasional muffled voice through the sounds of despair. "How could he do this?" was cried out more than once. Mike didn't know if he meant Afton or Fredrick, but it really could've been both. He grabbed at Mike's shirt, tugging at the cloth with needy hands clinging for comfort, as though willing to tear through anything for some sort of relief.

And Mike could only listen to him and hold him. He could only rub his back and head so much, but nothing he would do could make this go away. Marionette was nearly hysterical, though had yet to hit the point where he had been the night when Mike first arrived. Which was good, as he didn't know if he could handle him being that far. He tucked the puppet's head under his and held him tightly. Mike never imagined that it would actually be painful to have someone break down in front of him, but it was physically agonizing.

Between Marionette's crying, and the occasional frustrated cry- "How long did he lie to me?! I thought he loved me!"- Mike would occasionally get a word in, "I don't know. I don't understand why anyone would hurt you." Of course, Mike was letting his feeling towards the bite slip in, while Marionette was focused on William Afton, which was still not proven. He seemed entirely convinced about it.

There came a point when Marionette wore himself out too much to continue vocalizing his frustration and betrayal. At this point he just kept his face pressed into Mike's shirt, holding tightly onto him, and let the last of his tears silently slip out. Mike easily held him in his arms and only tightened his grasp when Marionette's weakened. He couldn't risk letting him go for even a moment.

"Mike…" Marionette quietly murmured into his shirt. His fingers tightened once more on Mike's arm. "I feel filthy."

"It's just purple, it'll come out," Mike responded in a slight, very tentative attempt to ease the mood. Or to at least pretend like he didn't know what the other really meant.

Marionette moved upwards to rest his head on Mike's shoulder. His damp porcelain stained Mike's shirt further, but Mike really didn't care. It wasn't important considering the situation. Though this angle did give Mike a better way to hold the striped male, and he wrapped his arms tighter around his back and middle.

"I feel… Empty," Marionette admitted. "I can't even feel. I think I lost it all." This was probably a little overdramatic, but he then followed with. "I remember the man who tucked me in at night. Who flipped on my night light and would comfort me after a nightmare." His voice began to crackle in a choke, static sinking in again. "How could that man take so many young lives? How could he- How could he create me, but then kill another. Why would he do that? How could someone do that?"

"I don't know…" Mike quietly responded. "I didn't know when we thought it was Phone Guy. I didn't know when I saw him in Golden Bonnie…" He hugged him a little firmer. "All I know is that… Regardless… He's gone. He's gone, he's dead, and Fredrick… I won't begin to pretend that I understand his reasons. I don't know why he decided to take over William's stuff, but maybe he was really a good guy. He lost kids, so maybe he saw you as his son? I don't know, I can't vouch for him either. I can't vouch for anyone except myself."

"And what do you think?" He had turned to look at Mike. His face was still full of despair and his features continued to change. He had lost any desire to keep control of himself; though this had been obvious when he attacked Phone Guy. At least, Mike assumed, Marionette had been a lot less persistent with Phone Guy that he had been when they first met. Though it may have been the threat of crying that drove him away.

In the end, Mike was honest. "I think we've both been stuck around a lot of garbage people. Maybe I'm guilty of this too, but I would never do something to hurt you… And I know you'd never turn on me." Marionette pressed against his neck and curled further against him. "So… So nothing's really changed. It's still just you and me, alright? It doesn't matter about the bite, it doesn't matter about who your father is, and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. We've only had ourselves to rely on and that still stands."

Silence for a few moments. Then Marionette forewarned him, "I'm going to cry again."

"I sort of expected that," Mike responded. He tightened his hold a little further; ignoring the nagging ache in his legs as he stood in the middle of the room. The puppet pressed back against him and continued weeping on his shoulder.

It was unfortunate that the door started to open. Marionette slide down just enough that his face was not visible while Mike looked back in horror.  _"What the hell?! Does Phone Guy have a death wish or-?!... Oh."_ Instead, there stood Fritz, who looked a little too awake at Midnight. "…Fritz?" Mike was completely baffled at his arrival. "You couldn't have chosen a worse time to randomly pop in."

"Phone Guy called me… Is everything okay, or…?" Fritz could see the purple and it was clearly obvious what position Mike and Marionette were in. Nobody was trying that hard to hide it. "I picked a bad time."

"That's an understatement. Is Phone Guy still out there?" Mike hoped not. He could already feel Marionette tense at the reference. Eventually he would have to ask him and Phone Guy about what this animosity was between them.

"He's in his car. He wanted someone to come check on you and he's, well… Let's be honest; neither of us really thought that he was completely there, am I right?" Mike did agree on that note. "I'll be out here so don't rush or worry if you hear anything."

"Rush?"

"Yeah, just-," Fritz closed the door, leaving Mike staring after him in a bewildered fashion.  _"…He's going to get the wrong idea."_

"He's still out there," Marionette bitterly spat as the static grew on his voice. Mike rubbed circles around his back, hoping to calm him down. "Out of everyone it was him that came back and he's still here." The static grew a bit more and now the security guard could feel his strings sliding out.

"Easy. He's not in the house," Mike reminded him. "And he didn't do anything. He told us what he knew, but that doesn't make him at fault." Marionette gave a frustrated noise in response, as though Mike didn't understand. Maybe then it really was more than just sudden anger; there really was some sort of reason he didn't like Phone Guy. Though that wasn't important right now. "Any better?"

"No," Marionette admitted, "not better. I just  _don't understand._ "

"I know. I don't either," Mike quietly responded as he continued to hold him. "…I had a feeling something would turn this night to hell. Purple Guy still manages to come back from the dead and kill an evening." Then the dreaded silence returned once again. This time it didn't last as long.

"Go see to them," Marionette insisted. "I'm… Stable… I'll live. Go see to them." He abruptly slid out of the human's grasp, to which Mike was unable to regain a firm hold, and approached the bed.

"You sure about that?" Mike's gaze followed him across the room. Something about the sudden change seemed completely fake. He had a hunch that the puppet was just uncomfortable with Fritz, and possible Phone Guy, being in the house without his consent. Or, at least, without him monitoring them.

Inwardly, Marionette still felt like a mess. He couldn't exactly put his finger on what he was feeling, but it was exhausting. It made him feel human again, but in the worst possible way. He laid down on the bed and pulled into himself; much more comfortable than finding a table to go crawl under. He almost forgot what it felt like to hide and weep at the same time, and it brought back memories. If there could be any worse time to remember his father coaxing him out from under the table at Freddy's Pizzeria.

He didn't know what was worse; the kids staring when he would panic as a child or knowing that his current co-workers, or at least one of them, knew about this panic and would think less of him. Stigma from other children lasted longer, but breaking down into a fit around adults was a lot more embarrassing. He couldn't even imagine what Fredrick would've thought; he couldn't even imagine what his defense would've been to the accusations. Would Fredrick denounce them, or would he admit to being a fake? Would he have a reason beyond covering past mistakes?

And what was so much worse was that Marionette had known something was wrong.

The nightmares, the scene in Afton's, the fact that his father just happened to come and find him; it all had started to ring alarm bells. He had seen the writing on the wall, but hadn't been paying enough attention to read it. He could've sworn Fredrick looked like his father, but then again, he could've sworn that all the security guards were the Purple Man. Neither Goldie nor Foxy ever said anything, and he couldn't tell if they were hiding it or somehow didn't know. It was possible that both were just as in the dark as he was. He didn't know how he would tell Foxy.

It wasn't until Mike laid a hand on his arm that he realized the man hadn't left the room. He hadn't been paying enough attention to notice he was still there. "I don't think I should leave you just yet," Mike pointed out as squeezed his arm. "Not until I know you're okay and we're okay." He meant about keeping quiet on what he knew. "You don't have to forgive me, but I just want to know that this isn't going to change us."

"I forgive you, Mike," Marionette immediately responded. "But… There is nothing to forgive. I understand why you did what you did. I… I know you care. That's more than enough." Indeed, it was. Mike might have hidden this from him, but at least Mike felt honest in his concern. The puppet had no doubt that his male caretaker really had been worried about his reaction. Besides, it would take more for him to feel ill will towards Mike.

Mike responded by patting his arm thankfully. He then paused for a moment and then laid his hand on Marionette's head. The puppet flinched as the warm hand slid to his forehead, over the porcelain of his mask. It felt so odd to have someone touching his face, as Mike had done before as well, but he didn't dislike it. It was comfortable, though oddly specific…

He realized that Mike was touching where he had been bitten. Though not in this body, it was around the same location of the most damage. It could've been a subconscious move alone, but Mike was still doing it, and he didn't seem ready to draw away. He just moved his hand faintly, as though he was petting the younger being.

Marionette hadn't wanted to tell Mike about his brother's actions. Both because he wanted to move on from them and because he knew that Mike wouldn't. He knew Mike would be upset and that it could potentially damage his friendship with Foxy. Marionette had been willing to forgive Foxy, while not forgetting what happened. Mike might not be as will to do so. So, he protected his brother as long as he could. Now that it was out in the open, Marionette was too weary to even try to defend Foxy if he wanted to.

He couldn't even worry about it though. There was too much elsewise to concern himself over; the mortifying reveal of the bite was merely an anecdote in comparison.

"I'll be back as soon as I'm sure Phone Guy isn't going to sue us," Mike partially joked as he drew back and headed to the door. Marionette turned to watch him go, no longer crying. At least Mike had managed to stem the tears that had been so willing to spill out earlier. The moment that Mike was gone, however, Marionette made a sudden decision. In an instant, he was gone too.

Mike stepped in the living room prepared to see Fritz and maybe Phone Guy. Instead, he found Fritz and Natalie, surprisingly. He immediately stared at her. "Natalie, what- How did you get here?" He was at least a little confused as he knew Phone Guy didn't know her, and it seemed odd that Fritz would randomly decide to bring her over. Unless-.

"It's a long story," Natalie tried to wave off, but something seemed a little uncomfortable in her smile. "We were just hanging out when Fritz got the call. Is everything okay."

"It's okay enough. Glad you both could stop by and witness this thing." It was then that Mike fully took in what Natalie had said. Something about that line seemed awful suspicious, especially since it was after midnight. "Pretty late to be hanging out," he remarked, a slightly coy smile forming.

"Phone Guy was here," Fritz volunteered, almost defensively.

"Yeah, but I didn't invite him. He just appeared on the doorstep," Mike defended in return. "And even that's got a sketchy reasoning behind it. You won't believe what conclusion he came in here with." He went straight for the fridge again, determined to get something to drink this time.

"You've, uh… Got a little purple all over you," Natalie pointed out in confusion. Fritz looked awkwardly towards some of the pictures on the wall. He didn't look willing to start explaining.

"It's mostly Mari," Mike volunteered while not going into details. He popped open a soda and headed towards the door. "Guess I should go try and patch things with Phone Guy," he remarked as he opened the door. He then lingered there, humming as he stared out into the night. "Huh… Fritz, looks like you didn't bring your car. Guess you two were sharing a car too," he looked over, mockingly suspicious, and took a swig of soda. "If things get rough, I'll be making a break for the border."

He stepped out of the house while Natalie and Fritz just stood there uncomfortably. The shorter female looked upwards to the male, gave him a sheepish smile, and tried to look somewhat confident. "I think we could've handled that better. Next time we need to figure out a good excuse before we drive over," Natalie suggested. "…But this is a step in the right direction, right?"

"Maybe. I can't tell when he's joking, being sarcastic, or just being bitter. So, I can't tell whether he knows and is pretending not to, or doesn't know and is pretending to," the technician added in. "But it's… It's something… It's not like he can penalize me anyway for keeping something like this quiet." He casually glanced down the hallway towards Marionette's bedroom. "It would be a pot and kettle thing." He turned his focus back on Natalie, putting an arm around her shoulders. "But hey, you said you wanted to do something exciting tonight, right?"

Natalie's look was so unimpressed, Fritz couldn't tell if she was mimicking Mike or not.

Outside, Phone Guy's car door was unlocked and Mike sat down in the passenger side. "Before you ask, no, he can't and won't come out here," Mike forewarned the older male. This may have eased him a little more.

Phone Guy looked rough, but he managed to speak. "You, uh… You take a spill with a paint can?" he pointed to his shirt. "Or did you- Did you just- you know, miss a lot?" He now meant the soda, but he was so unsteady that it was somewhat hard to understand what he was meaning.

"The truth is that I really am the Purple Man. I randomly grow purple spots when I hear music box music," Mike replied. Phone Guy flinched in response. "I don't know what Fritz told you about me and the puppet."

"He said you were- You were  _living_ with it," Phone Guy forced out.

"That's right."

"But- But why?" the older man seemed completely baffled. "Why would you live with something that will try to kill you whenever it can?!" Panic overtook his voice as he gestured to the house, "Do you- Did they tell you all that it did to us?! It's dangerous! It's not… Like the others."

Normally Mike would've tried to simply calm Phone Guy down, as he acknowledged why the man was in such a panic. Yet somehow defensiveness appeared out of nowhere, as though he was offended about what he was saying. "Just lay off him a little. They were all dangerous and they all had a reason why." When the older sent him a look of disbelief, Mike realized this was not the correct answer. Especially not when he already suspected the security guard. He decided to quickly throw more out into the open.

"He was the crying child," Mike admitted to him. "And that's why I originally stuck around. Fredrick was taking care of him before he died, and he thinks- or thought that Fredrick was his father." Clenched hands loosened on the steering wheel a little more and the panicked look loosened to a confused and slight shocked one. "And you know what? Fredrick made it really look like he was his father… He kept the room the same, he brought him here and started taking care of him...He left the house to me because he had nobody else."

So, there it was; a summary of his entire experience with the house and with Marionette. Sure, he left out the countless perils, the revelations, and the numerous good times they shared, but he knew it would be enough to explain why he originally did it. When it came down to it though, Mike did it because he wanted to.

"But that- I don't understand," Phone Guy choked out. "Why would Fredrick have him? I-I mean he probably has all of William's old belongings, I assume, but why the Puppet? Even if it was the crying child, why would he take that risk?" This did raise a good question. While they still hadn't proved or disproved whether Fredrick or William was the father, Mike still had some doubts, he questioned why Fredrick would take in the Puppet if he wasn't his son.

"…Maybe Fredrick did have a couple of kids who died," Mike volunteered to Phone Guy. The older man looked over to him and listened to his theory. "And if he found out who he was, maybe he told him he was his father and brought him here, to make up for losing his own kids." This was a stretch, but it was a possibility. "Something like that."

Phone Guy was looking at the purple spots again. Mike didn't know if he somehow got lucky and guessed what they were or not. He stayed silent, they both did, and for the moment they just sat there silently. They needed that silence.

Guilt seemed like a plausible explanation. Mike had felt it tonight and knew exactly how convincing it could be.

* * *

"Foxy?" Marionette's voice was hushed as he appeared in the pizzeria. Foxy appeared out from the hallway. It was late at night, but Foxy seemed content in wandering around the Pizzeria. The puppet felt uncomfortable, but he knew he needed to get answers, and he approached the other animatronic.

"Evening lad, what brings ya out to Foxy's ship?" Foxy casually greeted with interest in his eye. He didn't seem to notice anything amiss, which was good as he didn't want Foxy to somehow guess that he had been crying.

"I need to ask you something, Foxy," Marionette murmured. His voice then grew more firm, "And please, you have to be honest with me. I need to know." He kept telling himself that Foxy would have to know. He was his older brother, he was the one that never took to anyone, including Fredrick. Though Fredrick never seemed interested in Foxy, but that could be because he didn't know the truth. "…Do you- I… Do you know- Was William Afton- You remember William Afton?" Foxy gave him a somewhat blank look.

"Foxy, I can't… I can't  _remember_ enough. I need to know whether father- I need to know if Fredrick was our father or whether it was William Afton." This led into quietness. Foxy's ears twitched and his body followed afterwards.

"Afton?" Foxy asked in curiousness. The name slipped out like he knew it, but at the same time didn't sound fully like he understood it.

"William Afton. He… He worked at Freddy's with Fredrick. He owned the facility that Mike and I went to… Foxy, there was something down there." Now it was Marionette who shuddered. "I found a fake world created underground. My room, our sister's room, bedrooms, fake rooms that looked like the diner; someone made that to mock our lives… And I think they took children down there and did something to them…" He tightened his hands. "And by 'them', I mean Afton. He made… He made animatronics born to kidnap and kill children."

Foxy was staring blankly.

Suddenly Marionette mentally flashed to the bedroom he saw while trying to find a way to Mike in the office, while Ennard had been hunting him. "There was a bedroom in particular… There were two doors, like an office would have, and led into two hallways… I don't know what it was used for, and I don't think I want to know… Foxy?"

Foxy was staring blankly.

"Foxy?" Marionette tilted his head. Foxy's quietness was odd to him.

"Captain Foxy's fine, lad. Very fine," Foxy suddenly chimed out. Though he was still standing stiffly and staring blankly. "You shouldn't worry about it. We don't need to know now. We're moving on." He slowly reached out to lay a hand on the other's shoulder, but then stopped in the motion, letting his hand recoil. "And we don't know- Lad- We don't know- There was a bedroom?" His tone shifted abruptly to one of confusion. "Was there a closet? A bedroom with a closet?"

Marionette's face shifted to a surprised look. Bedrooms typically did have closets, but this comment seemed somewhat significant. Especially since the bedroom in question did have a large and obvious closet door. "…There was a closet. It had white doors."

"Bedroom closet..." Foxy blinked and twitched at the revelation. Something was wrong. "I remember that closet and the… The hallways led down with- Hours under this place. Hours under this place." His voice sounded natural, his body language was mostly blank, but his words were losing any sort of coherence. Then, like a sudden flash, Foxy changed dramatically. He reached out and grabbed ahold of the puppet's arm, wrenching him forwards. "Hours, lad, hours! Why would you go there?! How did you even find it?!"

Marionette tried to pull his arms out of Foxy's grasp. He was shocked by Foxy's behavior, but was more concerned than afraid. He wasn't afraid of Foxy, but for Foxy. The fox animatronic finally released him and then stood there stiffly, staring at him with a blank look yet again.

"…I'm sorry…" Foxy quietly apologized, staring at the younger being. "I need air." He stiffly turned and started towards the back of the restaurant. Marionette followed slowly, wanting to ask more from his brother and perhaps comfort him. That was, until Foxy suddenly broke into a sprint towards the hallway.

"Foxy?!" Marionette called after as Foxy slammed through the back door, unlocked from the inside but locked from the outside, and sprinted out into the world. Marionette teleported outside just in time to see Foxy disappear across the street and through the snowy darkness. "Foxy, don't go!" It was too late to stop him and Marionette knew he couldn't risk venturing into the night to find him. Foxy was gone and Marionette knew he needed help.

It wouldn't be the first time that Marionette relied on Mike today.


	42. Chapter 42

Marionette didn't want to go out into a room of people to explain his plight, but he had no other choice. Thankfully, he couldn't immediately see the Phone Guy, so it was only Fritz and Natalie who he had to deal with. After a few moments of hesitation, Fritz turned towards Natalie to talk about something while Mike watched. This was his cue and he quickly appeared behind Mike. He laid a hand on his shoulder and murmured to him. "Mike, Foxy's gone," he forewarned.

Mike wasn't surprised about his appearance, but looked confused about the statement. "What do you mean?" he asked back. Marionette was somewhat relieved that Mike caught the cue to keep his voice down.

"I went to tell Foxy and he fled from the Pizzeria," Marionette admitted to him. "He's out there somewhere. I don't know where he's gone." It was now that the other two companions noticed him. Marionette fought the urge to go into his default and freeze under their gaze. Even though it was Fritz and Natalie, this whole event had everything frazzled and he could barely stand their staring.

Mike swore under his breath. "Any clue?" he insisted, digging in his pocket for his keys. "If he's not coming here, then there's got to be somewhere he'll go."

After a moment's hesitation, Marionette gave a tentative answer. "…Maybe the cemetery. As you know, Foxy and I were there before, so he knows the way." Again, he could hear Mike swear and the security guard then moved towards the door. The puppet released his shoulder stiffly and immediately felt too visible. Both Fritz and Natalie could see every stitch of him and he could no longer hide behind Mike. Thankfully, they didn't seem as interested in him as they were in Mike's journey to the door.

"One in the morning; of course, I should've expected Foxy to go on a stroll," Mike muttered to himself. He then looked to Fritz, "And if he's not thinking then he's probably not hiding. If he's spotted, then we're sunk."

"We'll split up and search town. If he's not thinking  _at all_ then he might be running blind," Fritz pointed out. The thought of this made Marionette feel a sudden pang of panic. Fritz was right; Foxy could've gone anywhere and could be seen by anyone. He could only regret that he hadn't been able to stop him. The technician looked to Natalie, "Can you drive me over to get the van? It's the only way we can move Foxy."

"No problem!" Natalie responded with a newfound determination. Regardless of the time or the situation, Natalie knew the seriousness of this situation. Giving Fritz a ride was just part of the job description.

"Great. I'll head over there now and check the road to the cemetery," Mike quickly brought to speed, tugging on his jacket. "One of us might need to call Jeremy. He's going to want to know whether we're all going to be on the news tomorrow." Mike finished by looking to Marionette, "You pop into the car and we'll take off." He disappeared through the door, but Marionette lingered a moment longer as Fritz looked to him questioningly.

"How bad is he going to be?" Fritz questioned in concern, "He's not… He's not going to be aggressive, right?" The fear wasn't fully for himself. He could only dread what a crazed Foxy could do when released upon an unsuspecting town. Ironically, he asked Marionette this question after he had previously become aggressive to Phone Guy. He could hear Mike trying to start his car.

"I… I doubt it," Marionette assured. "Foxy… He was acting strange, but Foxy wasn't acting aggressive. He's more likely to run than to struggle…" His voice grew quieter and he struggled to keep his face in check; curtesy of him becoming too comfortable with Mike. "And you've seen how fast Foxy can run…"

"I have," Fritz cringed slightly. Mike tried to start his car again. Fritz looked back to Natalie, "I can drive Mike and Mari once we get the van. I… I don't want to get you wrapped in this if it goes bad."

"Fritz, I want to be here," Natalie reassured. She briefly paused and the flooding car could be heard outside. "I want to go all the way with this- This is the business. I can't just go halfway and say it's too difficult."

Marionette glanced between the two with interest. Something suddenly eased as he saw the interaction between the two. He could feel his smile hold some merit before the door swung open, then he turned his attention over to Mike who was standing in the doorway.

"Looks like I'm going nowhere fast," Mike pointed out with a huff and he tossed his keys onto the table. "I'm going to have to tag along with you."

"I told you to get that thing looked at. It was thumping last week," Fritz reminded as he headed out the front door with Natalie in tow.

"It was driving fine a couple of hours ago. Phone Guy probably just dumped sugar in the tank," Mike pointed out flatly. He then looked to Marionette, "Are you sure you want to come?" The puppet's answer was non-verbal; a nod, a chime, and an uncomfortable crossing of his arms. No more words were exchanged, or needed to be exchanged.

Soon the four were stuck in Natalie's car and on the road to get the van. Mike was stuck in the backseat, but it was less because Fritz wanted to be in the front and more because he wanted to stick close to Marionette who had retreated to floor in front of the backseat. It looked uncomfortable, but the puppet didn't seem bothered by the confined space.

"I think I'd have a better time riding in a cardboard box," Mike pointed out as he shifted around to get comfortable. The backseat of the car felt unnaturally stunted compared to a normal car. Eventually he turned to the side to face Marionette, trying to stretch out comfortably on the seats. "So, what exactly set Foxy off?" The question was tentative out of a risk to upset the puppet, but he couldn't quell the curiosity he felt. Foxy knew better than to blindly run out into the night.

Marionette sat upwards a little and briefly looked to Mike with a confused tilt of the head. He was a bit surprised that Mike directly asked this with Fritz and Natalie in the car, but they seemed distracted on their own merit. Fritz was flipping through music channels and Natalie was driving; neither of them were nearly as invested at Mike. Marionette folded his arms on the second seat and rested against it, assuming that he couldn't be seen by any nearby cars. "I told him about finding my room in ARI."

" _That's_ what set him off?" Mike asked in surprise.  _"That's pretty damn unnerving, but he freaked out about that instead of this Afton thing?"_ He assumed that there had to be something more. Thankfully, Marionette was more than willing to be open further with his companion.

"It was very odd, Mike. He spoke about one of the rooms as though he knew it," Marionette admitted with discontent on his voice. "You didn't see this bedroom, but it had two entrances… Like a standard office." The look of disturbance that crept onto Mike's face meant that he was already putting together the same pieces that he had. Marionette waved his hand in dismissal, looking down at the seat and the around at the car's interior in curiosity. "But he's Foxy, of course, so he refused to explain anything before he left."

"I think that's running through the business. It's like a virus; everyone Freddy's touches becomes unable to rationalize any of their actions," Mike remarked with a weary huff. He wasn't exactly very happy with Foxy anyway, so knowing that he was stuck out here because of him was borderline ridiculous. "And when they do rationalize it, it either doesn't make logical sense or it's just completely stupid. 'Hey, here's a great idea. Why don't we rehire that guy who keeps popping up when all these kids disappear?'" Mike mocked.

This got a light chime out of Marionette at least. He laid his head on his folded arms and Mike raised a brow. "Tired?"

"Exhausted," Marionette corrected. "I've never been so ready to end a night… Or, well, I have, but that's not important." Mike had a feeling that he didn't need to or want to know. "I need to be ready for tomorrow."

"Mari, if you can't do tomorrow then Foxy will have to do it on his own. He's the reason we're out here anyway," Mike pointed out. If it came down to it, he would be insistent about him taking the day off. He couldn't be perfectly fine after all of this.

"I can't. I want to be there," Marionette insisted with an exhausted but stubborn tone. "I need to be there. If I don't, I'll just spend the day dwelling on things. I rather pass out gifts; I was born to do this." He certainly sounded determined, so Mike didn't argue any further, especially as the car came to a stop and Fritz jumped out.

Mike leaned forward, between the front seats, and addressed Fritz. "I'll stick with Nat. Her car's going to be faster than the van anyway."

Fritz nodded in agreement, "Got it. I'll call Jeremy." The door was shut and Fritz jogged over to the van. Natalie quickly pulled back out and started to drive along, "Where to first?"

"The cemetery," Mike reinstated.

"You sure?" Natalie playfully remarked back. That would've been the end of it, except that someone else had something to say.

"No," Marionette suddenly announced. As though in a trance, he slowly roused from his relaxed position. "No, wait, maybe I've made a mistake." Mike looked to him in alarm and Marionette voiced his concern. "Foxy could be anywhere. I thought he went to the cemetery, but… He could've gone to the old pizzeria," he doubtfully admitted. He almost shrunk when he added in, quieter, "Or the warehouse. Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica are still there. He could've gone there. If we're being realistic, I… I have no idea where he went."

Then the pressure returned. Marionette could feel the panic coming back, along with the sudden feeling of powerlessness. Mike was a little calmer, "Where do you think he would've most likely gone?"

"I… I don't know." His confidence faltered. "I don't know anything about Foxy, do I? I thought I did, but really… Nothing." His face shifted to dread and Mike decided it was his turn to step in.

"Hey, don't do that," Mike insisted as he reached out and lightly shook his shoulder. "You're overthinking this. Foxy couldn't have gotten far." Marionette covered his face with a hand and Mike squeezed his shoulder. "We're going to find him no matter what. Just sit tight and let me handle this for you," Mike supportively insisted. He then looked back to Natalie. "The warehouse is closest. We'll start there."

* * *

_It was so humid and hot, and the air stunk of dust and grime. It looked like a bedroom, but it smelled like a warehouse. Low thumping came from down one of the hallways; he wasn't sure which one. Instead his eyes focused on the closet. Something was in there waiting for him. With a sudden jolt of energy, he sprinted to the closet door and threw it open, shining the light around inside. Something was in there, he knew it, but he couldn't see it. All he could see was a Foxy plush sitting in the back of the closet, staring at him, judging him._

_The closet was shut and he hurried back to the bed, sitting down on the floor in front of it. It wasn't worth getting too comfortable on the bed. He knew this after multiple times when he had to fling himself off the bed to shut one of the doors. They wouldn't stay shut no matter how hard he tried to close them. By now he had lost all concept of time; he couldn't tell if it had been hours or days. It just didn't stop and he couldn't even sleep, driven crazed by a nagging throbbing in his chest. His adrenaline was the only thing keeping him awake to keep them out._

_Part of him wondered if the others were going through the same thing. He hadn't seen them since he had been brought here, but he could only assume that they were here somewhere too. Probably in other rooms like this, keeping out the monstrous, hulking figures that waited in the darkness to get inside. At this moment, he heard footsteps outside of the left door and hurried over to look out. At the end of the hallway stood the foul creature that was stalking him, or one of them. It looked to be a rabbit animatronic, maybe, but looked freakishly deformed._

_Or maybe it was just the light. It disappeared so quickly that he couldn't tell whether or not it was. He pulled back from the door and headed back to the bed, tiredly collapsing in front of it. He couldn't go on much longer. Echoing down the hallway he could hear laughter, booming and shuddering like distorted sobbing. It haunted him and wouldn't allow him to forget. As long as he was trapped in this windowless room, listening to the sound of crickets pour in through a vent in the wall, he would be forced to remember._

_There was a fidgeting in the closet and he staggered over to it, resting his hands on the knobs. How many times had he hiked out in a closet, waiting for his unsuspecting victim to open it? Now something waited inside, stalking him, trying to get into the room with him. He couldn't keep up forever. This couldn't go on forever; eventually the alarm clock signaling respite would sound through the halls. Then he would be safe for a few more minutes._

_He tightened his hold on the flashlight and threw open the closet door. A face stared back at him. Only for a few seconds, only until he slammed the door shut, but for that moment the mocking face stared him down._

_It was Foxy's face. Of course it was another tribute to what he did. They were never going to let him forget._

_Once it was gone, and he checked to make sure it vanished, he sat back down in front of the bed. Still he couldn't tell what time it was, how long he had until his brief minutes of safety. Slowly he started to realize that the likelihood of him leaving his room for good was very slim. He was going to die in this room, just like his brother died in his hospital bed. This was someone's version of punishment for his crimes._

_He could only wait. Any moment now… The sound of footsteps returned and light was cast down upon him from behind. For a moment he almost panicked, expecting to see dozens of freakish, miniature Freddys behind him, but he waited without moving. It was coming for him… Closer… Closer…_

"Foxy?"

The crackling voice seemed to suddenly bring Foxy back from his delirium. He couldn't understand why the voice was here, nor why he was crouched in a ditch. He could've sworn he had hid somewhere safe, but this ditch seemed remarkably out in the open. No wonder he was spotted so quickly and he listened as the human moved close. He wasn't surprised that it was his first mate to find him.

Jeremy coughed as he awkwardly shuffled down the slope to Foxy's side. It had been sheer luck that led him to finding the fox and now that he had found him he sought answers. "What are you doing out here? Someone could see you." His voice crackled in an unusual way that Foxy wasn't used to. The animatronic turned his head a slight bit, bit didn't speak. "Come on, Foxy, you need to get back to the Pizzeria. Fritz will bring the van." He brought out his cellphone and went to dial Fritz's number.

Until a hook abruptly caught his wrist. Jeremy flinched back in surprise and looked down towards the animatronic fox.

"Lad…" Foxy began quietly, "mind listening to an old sea dog's tale?" He turned his head upwards enough to look at the young man. Jeremy stared at him for a few moments, confused, but then slowly nodded.

"Uh… Okay, Foxy. Sure," he agreed and shuffled to kneel down, keeping himself somewhat off the snow. "Is this about how you got out here?"

"No, lad," Foxy drug out, staring the male down. "Did you know, lad, that I'm a liar?" Jeremy furrowed his brows in confusion. "It runs in the family. Other things run there too. Bad things that can never be washed clean." He twitched a bit and began to rock in place. He changed topic, "Marion tell you what he said?"

"Not really, no. I didn't even talk to Marionette," Jeremy admitted. "I-I talked to Fritz. Everyone's really worried about where you went."

Foxy completely ignored the last statement. "He found the room I spent my last days in," he continued, his pirate accent completely slipping. "I thought that the room wasn't real. I thought that room was just a bunch of nightmares… But it was real, and he saw it." He shuddered at the thought and began to explain. "We went back to the Pizzeria to get revenge for what happened to Marion. We were the real cause, but we wanted someone else to blame, so we went back alone… And  _he_ was waiting for us."

"Who?" Jeremy asked, but then immediately guessed. "Wait- the murderer?"

"Aye. It was him… I can't remember his face. Can't remember anything except all his purple," Foxy snarled after he finished this statement. There was anger in his eyes that even Jeremy could see. "He took me to that room and he, and his goons, animatronic monsters, tormented me. I don't know how long I was down there…" He shook his head firmly. "I kept holding on, kept thinking that my friends were somewhere doing this too, that we'd escape this and… And we'd go home together…"

"Oh no, Foxy…" Jeremy knew where this was going. "You don't have to-."

"They were already dead," Foxy announced abruptly. "I saw them later. I saw them when he was moving me out of the room…" He fell silent, suddenly deciding not to tell anything else. The two sat there for a couple of seconds. Then Foxy's mood abruptly shifted, "I didn't ask to be this. I didn't want to become Foxy." It was the first time that Foxy went entirely out of character. Jeremy stared at him in alarm through fogged vision. He tried to keep from coughing as his throat tingled in protest.

Then Foxy's move continued to plummet. "And look at me now. I'm still a monster." He abruptly stood and stormed over to a nearby shrub. Ignoring the snow covering it, he viciously began to swing his hook into the shrub, as though to release anger.

Jeremy flinched back a little more from the aggression, falling onto his backside on the snow. He followed by awkwardly stumbling to his feet. "You're not a monster, Foxy," he quietly tried, not wanting to make the situation any worse. It was now that a car stopped beside his own. He looked back, saw the car, and began to panic as a stranger looked out the window before dialing his cellphone. "I've got everything under control!" he called out desperately to the man before looking to Foxy. "Foxy, we need to get you home."

He tried to shuffle a little closer, but Foxy's aggression towards the innocent shrubbery kept him somewhat back. Jeremy didn't think Foxy would attack him, but he didn't want to risk an accidental swing hitting his flesh. "I know you didn't want to be an animatronic, b-but at least you're alive, right? You've got the pizzeria and all the kids; it's not a lot, but it's something."

Foxy abruptly stopped in his attacking and let his arm drop limply to his side. "…It's not enough," his accent has returned yet again. "Lad, it ain't enough to just taste the salt. If you don't have the sea by your side, there's no point in even spreading your sails." While Jeremy didn't understand why Foxy was dipping back and forth from pirate to non-pirate, he sort of understood what he meant. Either way, Foxy was clearly distraught, and Jeremy reached out towards him.

"Foxy!"

Jeremy recoiled immediately, hazily stumbled, and looked over to see that, abruptly, Marionette had appeared. Looking up towards the street, he could see that another car had pulled up and both Mike and Natalie were getting out. There was immediate relief; Jeremy didn't think he could handle Foxy alone in this state. Foxy had almost uprooted the shrub when Marionette called for him. He promptly stopped the attacking, stiffened, and looked back towards the other animatronic. They stared each other down for a few moments, then Foxy spoke.

"I'm not going back," he firmly stated. Foxy then turned away and promptly crouched down on the ground. Marionette and Jeremy glanced to each other before the puppet began to speak again.

"I was worried after you left. You could've been seen," Marionette pointed out before looking down towards the cemetery further on. He then looked back to the fox, hovering a little closer. "Foxy, I don't know if it's true or not. About him… I can't say whether it is or not, but I needed to tell you. I needed to know if you remembered."

"I don't," Foxy admitted to the younger. "Lad, I can't remember his face. I can't remember his voice- neither of their faces or voices…" There was shame heavy on his voice. Though by now, Jeremy was entirely confused at the shift in conversation, not making the connection between the elusive room and their vague statements. Though he did notice immediately as Foxy's head tilted upwards. Sudden interest overtook the animatronic as his voice returned. "…Who told you about Afton?"

"It was that man who was always on the phone," Marionette explained, then gave a mock cheer, "Surprise! Freddy didn't kill him!"

"Makes ya wonder…" Foxy slowly stood once more. For a second Jeremy worried that Foxy was going to turn his attention on Phone Guy. Marionette didn't seem too concerned, but his frozen face didn't give much away. Instead he waited there as the fox stood. "Why didn't  _he_ tell you?"

Jeremy's brows furrowed while Marionette's lightly recoiled. The human glanced between them, "Whose 'he'? You mean Mike?" It was a reasonable assumption. Upon hearing his name being dropped, Mike started making his way down the slope; thinking that if they all rushed in Foxy would flee. Apparently, Mike also believed that Foxy was referring to himself.

"You know who I mean, Marion. He was always there, whispering in your ear. Always knew what he wanted done. Why didn't he know what was happening with Afton?" Foxy demanded a little more firmly. Though it wasn't as though he was seeking answers, but as though he was accusing. "And I can't remember his face! I remember seeing him do it, but I can't remember his face!"

"We were all like that," Marionette defended limply. There was hesitation on his voice as he trained his vision to the ground and grasped at his own arm. "We didn't know either. I thought Fredrick looked like our father, Foxy."

"You and I both thought all those security guards were the same man too," Foxy pointed out in further accusation. "Why did they all look purple? Why were we going after everyone if he swore he knew which was which?"

Marionette was about to continue defending when Mike finally volunteered. "Before we continue with this 'he said, he did' thing, can we actually verify who we're talking about? Two minutes ago it could've been me," Mike pointed out will a less than impressed tone in his voice. His previous anger towards Foxy had not waned in the slightest, but he was attempting to stay non-confrontational. The outcome coming out of it would've not even been worth it. Jeremy broke into a brief fit of coughing as Foxy paused for a few moments.

"Golden Freddy," Foxy clarified with bitterness dripping from his voice. "Marion probably didn't tell you, but Golden Freddy was  _always_ in control. We just had to go along with what he said. We had no choice." Mike looked towards Marionette for some sort of denial, but the puppet did not defend Golden Freddy on this front.

"He was like us, Foxy. Maybe he thought like we did. He… He would've told me if he was my father," but even Marionette didn't sound convinced. He was mostly going through the motions rather than putting his heart and soul into it. Mike noticed this right away.

"Golden Freddy used us all. It was never him doing anything, it was us doing his dirty work." Foxy's anger had shifted and angled directly at the non-present golden animatronic. "He could've know that Afton was our father and never said anything. He could be the reason that we can't even remember who was our father! You only recognized  _Fredrick_ once Golden Freddy was gone, didn't you?"

Marionette let a little tinge of alarm slip onto his face.

"He could be the reason you and I didn't know about Afton, about that room, about our sister!" Foxy pointed out firmly. "And that would be what he would do, that rat! He always had his teeth in you! If he-!" Foxy cut off almost immediately at this point, leaving them in abrupt silence. Apparently Foxy caught his wording too late. Shockingly enough, Marionette either didn't catch it or wasn't unbothered by it. Mike's reaction was immediate.

"I'm hoping that was the worst Freudian slip I've ever heard," Mike suddenly snapped out. "And I'm hoping you didn't say that on purpose." He was two seconds from going into a full tangent. "Where do you get the nerve-?"

"Mike, don't," Marionette broke out, raising his arm in front of him. "That isn't the matter at hand."

"I think it's pretty damn close," Mike pointed out. "If we're discussing facts that Phone Guy dropped, especially if we take  _that_ comment into consideration." As they were bickering, Foxy suddenly recoiled. Foxy's slip had been his own undoing. Jeremy watched as Foxy's anger dissolved and he turned away to crouch down once again. It was also now when Fritz pulled up in the van and climbed out, approaching Natalie and getting a quick assessment.

"We're discussing Afton… Or, no, we're discussing Goldie, really. We're discussing both," Marionette clarified. "Everything else can wait." Mike just stared at the black and white animatronic in disbelief.

"I just don't understand that," Mike pointed out. "How you can just let that go. Not even the comment, but this thing in general. Afton doesn't matter; nobody here really knows if Afton was your father. Frankly, it begs the question how Fredrick had access to all his stuff," he pointed out. For a moment, Marionette did become curious, and Mike used that to his advantage. "We really know nothing more than we did yesterday. There's no reason we should even be out here." Maybe Mike didn't agree with this entirely, but he couldn't help but angle his bitterness at Foxy.

The first car that appeared with the man then drove off. Mike glanced back at it. "Well, there goes Phone Guy," he casually remarked. "Guess he didn't want to stand out here at one in the morning either."

"He was here?" Marionette asked with a sharp change in tone. Suspicion, along with static, rose in his voice. "What was he doing here?"

"He's the one that found Foxy… After Jeremy, apparently. Jeremy, are you okay?" Mike suddenly noticed how red in the face the man looked. In response, Jeremy gave a noncommittal 'I'm fine' in return. "Yeah, you keep saying that." The security guard looked to Foxy. "Come on, Captain, you don't want to get seen. If you don't want to go back to the Pizzeria, then that's fine, but you can't stay here."

Jeremy wondered if he needed to voice what Foxy said earlier, but backed down when Marionette continued. "He was watching us the  _entire_ time?" the puppet asked with clear upset on his voice. Nobody directly answered him, so that was answer enough in and of itself.

"Oh, that's important but Foxy's past transgressions aren't?" Mike decided to quietly challenge. Unfortunately, Marionette both heard him and decided to react, with his static only growing.

"You're not helping, Mike. What Foxy did before doesn't matter. Not when we have to worry about this. Father, Afton, Goldie…" Marionette trailed off. It was obvious that Foxy's comments about Golden Freddy had left him unsettled. Mike slowly exhaled and considered reaching out to him, or whether it would frustrate him more.

While they were distracted, Jeremy approached Foxy from behind and laid a hand on his head, patting it. "Let's go home, Foxy. You don't need to hide out here." To his surprise, it worked. Foxy started to stand and turned towards the slope. Obediently he headed towards the van, Jeremy jogging behind him as he did so, and soon Marionette and Mike also followed.

Fritz opened the back of the van and Foxy climbed inside willingly, staying silent as he did so. Fritz followed inside to secure Foxy so he wouldn't slide around the back of the van. Mike was about to approach Jeremy about going home when Natalie's phone began to ring. She huffed audibly and checked her phone, "It's my dad… Could you guys just-?" She wandered a few feet away and answered the phone. "Hey Dad… No, I'm at work… I got a call about some overtime, so I decided to take it."

As Natalie worked to throw her father's suspicion aside, Mike leaned to murmur to Jeremy, "Hopefully you never have to meet Natalie's father." There was slight amusement in the wording, but Mike's tone was mostly flat. It wasn't necessarily like he had any sort of good opinion about the older man.

"He's that bad?" Jeremy inquired curiously.

"He ran for most psychotic father of the year, but fell just under Fredrick or Afton- pending the imminent paternity test," Mike clarified with a slight smirk. He then gestured back at the van, "Ask Fritz, he'll tell you."

Jeremy proceeded to look back expectantly towards Fritz until he noticed and verified, "He's got a few issues with anger. I drove Natalie home a couple of days ago and he was standing out on the lawn waiting for us. So when-." He ended his story abruptly as Natalie approached once more.

"That was Dad. There's been an emergency at the house… I think. Can I drive you back so that I can get home?" she directed this to Mike, but Mike wasn't the one who answered.

"Why don't you- I'll just drive you home. I'm going anyway," Jeremy volunteered as he fiddled to get his keys out.

"You need to go home and go to sleep," Fritz clarified, climbing out of the back of the van and shutting the doors. "I can take Mike home."

"He's not expecting me home immediately," Natalie volunteered in, "so I can still get them back."

"I'm not that sick. I just have a cold," Jeremy persisted, his hoarse voice not helping his case.

By now Mike and Marionette were just watching the scene from nearby. A car started to pass on the road and the puppet briefly dipped behind the van, away from peering eyes. It was becoming more obvious that they needed to get back to safety before they were spotted. "I knew I should've caught a ride with Phone Guy," Mike muttered. Though, in reality, he was more kicking himself for letting his car die.

Jeremy finally put his foot down. "I'm going over there anyway to make sure Foxy gets in okay. Whether I'm taking Mike or not, I'm going, so I should just take Mike." This was the first time that Jeremy had really been assertive on any account. It surprised even Fritz, who had known Jeremy the longest out of all of them. This finally settled the needless disagreement.

Even though uninvited to do so, Mike decided to again sit in the back with Marionette. He absolutely didn't agree when the younger's decision to defend Foxy, but he did feel a creeping shame in actively arguing with him this soon after what happened earlier. Marionette slipped into the backseat floorboard while Mike watched the others outside; Jeremy taking one last look at Foxy and Fritz saying something to Natalie outside of her car. He then looked back to the animatronic who sat alongside him.

Jeremy's car was shaped differently than Natalie's. While from Mike's angle everything seemed normal enough, the floorboard space looked a bit narrower. It didn't seem to bother Marionette, but this seemed like a good enough excuse for Mike to do something. "Nobody's going to see you if you come up here," he decided to offer.

Marionette turned his head to look at him curiously. "Here, we can throw this over you," Mike continued as he leaned forward to slide off his jacket. Marionette easily climbed onto the back seat, but kept himself below the window as to not be seen. The jacket didn't cover enough of him, but it wasn't as though a passing driver would notice his folded legs in comparison to his face and upper body. It seemed much more comfortable though. A few moments passed as the two sat in the car together.

"Where's Jeremy?" Marionette asked, not risking looking out and unable to tell his location through the car's body. "He's taking quite a while…"

"I see him. He's still checking on Foxy," Mike assured as he stared down the van. He was half ready to yell out the window for him to hurry. By now he was feeling the effects of the long night and knew that the morning would be rougher than he could even expect. "He'll be here in a minute." In response, Marionette slid closer to the human and laid his head on his leg, using it like a pillow. Mike glanced down his direction and got a slight smile; their earlier issues were behind them. Though this followed with a flicker of guilt; Marionette had put his issues with Foxy behind him too.

Not to mention these new questions about Goldie. To be entirely honest, Mike found himself wary of Golden Freddy, even as the puppet spoke about him. Something had always seemed a little off about his description of his dear friend. Though after all of this, Mike wasn't going to bring it up. After all, Goldie had moved on, so he wasn't a bother anymore. If he was controlling Marionette, like Foxy suggested, then he couldn't do so anymore. Mike reached down and stroked over Marionette's back and shoulder, trying to comfort him further.

The animatronic gave a soft chime as he turned to press his face further against Mike's leg. He tightened the jacket around him further and relaxed a bit more. Mike looked back upwards to check on Jeremy, "We'll get home soon. Maybe we- What?"

The last thing that Mike expected to catch when looking out of the car was Fritz and Natalie with their lips together. Mike just stared blankly; Fritz had Natalie's face cupped and only separated after a few seconds. Neither Natalie nor Fritz looked surprised and simply had small smiles. They pulled away, Natalie got into her car, and Fritz headed to the van where Jeremy said something and passing by. Neither of them gave any indication that this, the kissing, was a new thing. Mike didn't even know how to react.

"Huh…" Well, he had suspected something, at least. It didn't come as that much of a shock. Mike watched as Jeremy sat down in the driver's seat and started the car.

"Let's go," Jeremy spoke as he turned on the car to start going. The security guard stared at the back of Jeremy's head for a few seconds. No response; did Jeremy not notice? He blinked and looked down at the puppet, thinking that he would acknowledge some of this, or that he could at least make a comment about it. However, Marionette's eyes were closed and he looked like he was trying to sleep.

With the car moving and the three heading back towards home, Mike decided to just ignore the weird revelation. Considering everything else that happened tonight, this was just an anecdote.

He could only hope that this night would eventually become nothing more than an anecdote.


	43. Chapter 43

Fritz pulled into the driveway first, backing in, and then Jeremy pulled in behind his and Mike's cars. Jeremy then hoped out of the car and went to help Fritz, eager to get Foxy inside. Mike had handed over his keys so Jeremy could unlock the front door. They threw a tarp over Foxy and led him inside, where Foxy immediately retreated to his bedroom without another word. Jeremy was concerned about the animatronic's behavior; it seemed like he was only shutting down more and more.

"I'm heading home," Fritz announced to Jeremy. "Don't stay out too late and I won't be shocked if you take tomorrow off."

"Don't worry about that. I'll try to be in," Jeremy reassured as the technician headed to the front door. Fritz started to walk through, paused, and then stepped back to hold the door open for Mike. The security guard slipped through the door with Marionette in his arms, wrapped in his jacket. The puppet was clearly asleep, but Jeremy couldn't see it well as his face was turned towards Mike.

Mike quickly thanked Fritz before heading back towards the hall. "I'll see you two tomorrow. I need to get Mari in bed so that I can drink myself to sleep," he joked as he headed towards the master bedroom.

"You usually take Mari to bed with you?" Fritz's smirk gave away his amusement even before he put in his two cents, but that comment seemed to catch Mike. He hadn't even thought that Fritz was paying attention to where he was going, and considering the night he didn't feel comfortable putting Marionette in his box. Overcompensation overtook and he looked back, sporting his own smirk.

"I don't know, Fritz, do you take Nat home or do you do all your dirty work in the middle of the road?" The look on Fritz's face was of surprise, as though he really didn't expect that anyone would see him. "Yeah, that's right. I could clearly see you two through the car windows. Wonder how daddy dearest would've reacted seeing you two kissing in broad- middle of the night." Thoroughly certain that he had the last laugh, Mike continued towards the master bedroom.

Meanwhile, Jeremy took the time to look at Fritz in alarm. "You two?! I thought you had a- Uh…" He cut off and awkwardly rubbed his shoulder. "Uh… Congratulations?" This conversation would've only been more awkward if Jeremy would have continued questioning the situation.

Mike carried Marionette to the opposite side of the bed and drug down the blankets on the bed. He carefully set the puppet down, tucking his jacket around him before pulling the blanket over him. Thankfully he stayed asleep, giving Mike time to take a shower and change. He grabbed his nightclothes and stepped into the hallway, expecting Jeremy and Fritz to still be there. However, it was only Jeremy left standing in the living room. "Fritz bail?" Mike questioned and Jeremy nodded. "Figured. I could've probably handled that better.  _That goes for most of the night._ "

"Yeah, I think he was tired… What about Foxy?" Jeremy questioned with a cough.

Mike raised a brow, "What about him?"

"He's just… Going to stay in his room?" Jeremy looked towards the fox's door in concern. He doubted that Foxy had much to do in there and was worried about his sudden emotional shutdown.

"That's the plan," Mike responded with his own glance to the door. "It's too late to worry about this. I need a little more sleep." He tiredly rubbed his face before looking back to the other man. "What about you?"

For a few moments Jeremy didn't respond. Then he tentatively asked, "Would you mind if I stuck around a little longer? I'll lock the door before I leave and everything…"

"Not a problem with me," Mike shrugged off with a weary smile. "There's Chinese and cupcakes in the fridge. Help yourself." Both options didn't sound helpful with his cold, so Jeremy decided to make a pass as Mike headed into the bathroom to shower. This left Jeremy alone in the house. He didn't feel unwelcome, in fact he felt a bit too welcome in the home, but something felt off about sitting here worrying. At least Daisy was okay; he left her and the magician at his home, but had the home practically animatronic-proof by now.

His thoughts went back to what Foxy had told him about his past. Why had he not told Marionette about that? It seemed like that was something important. Then there was Mike's sudden and unexplained aggression towards the fox animatronic, which he knew had something to do with the puppet. He wished that he had asked Fritz more questions on the phone, but now the technician was gone, stuck in a fog in stuck about the reveal of his relationship with Natalie. Jeremy patiently waited for Mike to return.

Mike was already changed into his nightclothes by time he exited the bathroom. He tiredly stretched out his back, fussily rubbing over his wounded muscle. "I'm heading to bed. Night." He made no inquiries about how long Jeremy would be staying and instead waved before turning towards the hall.

"Wait, hold on," Jeremy stopped him before he could fully leave. He thought over his questions carefully before asking, "Is there something going on that I don't know about?" The look on Mike's face almost matched Fritz's and his reaction was both sudden and firm.

"I don't know what Fritz told you, but there's nothing weird going on here," Mike defended. "Sure, we're sharing a bed, but Mari's had a hard night. I wasn't the one locking lips outside of the car, was I?" Jeremy just stared in return; that was not what he was asking about. "We've slept together plenty of times. It's not a big deal." Though that statement sure raised a few questions. "So, uh… Good night," Mike finished awkwardly and began to head back towards the master bedroom with what dignity was left.

That had been a complete waste of a question. Jeremy didn't have any better idea of what was going on. It didn't help that between the concern and the tightness in his head he was feeling rather awful. Yet he couldn't muster the will to leave. As though the second he stepped out the door Foxy would come looking for him. He worried about Foxy, after all… He was human. Animatronic body or not, Foxy had blatantly showed how human he was beneath the suit, and that intrigued Jeremy a little more than it had before.

He was his first mate; he had to make sure Foxy was okay. Jeremy stood and headed down hall to the bedroom he entered, knocking on the door. "Captain Foxy?" he called through the wooden barricade. There was no immediate response. "Foxy, can I come inside?" There was still no answer. "I'm coming inside."

The door was slowly nudged open and Jeremy looked around the room. His gaze finally landed on Foxy who was sitting on the floor by the bed. The animatronic was slouched forwards and looked unresponsive. "Foxy?" Jeremy quietly asked as he took a few steps closer, crouching down and look at the fox. "Are you asleep or…?"

"Go home, Lad," the animatronic's voice was low, but weary. "Ya shouldn't wait up for ol' Foxy."

"No, Foxy, it's no problem!" Jeremy insisted as he took a step inside the room. "I'm… I'm here to make sure you're okay… Are you okay?"

"I'll live," Foxy excused in a vague answer. His body shuffled a little, but stayed in its relaxed state. "It's the cold."

"The- Oh!" Suddenly Jeremy realized that Foxy was probably dealing with more than just emotional problems. The snow couldn't have been good for him. Indeed, the snow wasn't good for Jeremy either. It made his headache a little worse but the human pressed on undeterred. "Yeah, that- that can't be good for you. Should I dry you off or-?" Jeremy took a step closer and Foxy turned his head away.

"Don't worry 'bout me. I need time alone," Foxy's voice was more firm. Jeremy took this as a sign that he needed to leave. Whatever Foxy was going through… He wanted to be alone for it.

"O-Okay, just… Just let me do this first." Jeremy took a few more careful steps and reached for the bed. He dragged the comforter off the top with only a slight bit of struggle, then draped it over the fox. "There! It should help the cold a little…" Or he hoped it would. At first Foxy didn't move in response to his efforts. It wasn't until he started back towards the door that Foxy tugged the blanket on tighter. "I'll just give you space."

"Thank ye," Foxy replied and the door slowly closed shut. Jeremy lingered outside of it for a few moments. Then, unsure what to do next, he headed into the living room to wait. He didn't feel ready to leave.

* * *

The bedroom door creaked open and let in dim light from the hallway.

It took no time for Marionette to be fully roused. He stared at the figure in the doorway for a few seconds before his body started to fully react. Panic filled him as he watched the human in the doorway turn distinctly purple. He leaned over Mike's body, slowly getting into a protective crouch over the human, and stared down the unknown figure. He was ready to spring and allowed his eyes to alight, a low chiming beginning to play. Then he finally noticed that the form was a bit too familiar.

It was Jeremy. He didn't know why Jeremy was here, but did recognize the growing look of fear on his face. Marionette let the light and music die as he stared at the male by the door, easing a little more as he realized that he had overreacted. Suddenly he felt foolish, laying an almost apologetic hand on Mike's arm.

Jeremy now spoke, "I-It's just me. I'll just… Never mind…" He slowly shut the door and disappeared into the hallway once again. However, Marionette couldn't let him go like that, especially when he needed to get up anyway and start baking for tomorrow. He could already tell that it was five thirty from his inner clock, which meant he didn't have too much time to get ready for the next day's events. He also didn't know what state Foxy was in, which could impact the coming day as well.

Marionette squeezed Mike's arm again affectionately. The male was still fast asleep and Marionette preferred to leave it like that. He quickly teleported into the kitchen, managing to arrive before Jeremy could even walk into the living room. Needless to say, Jeremy was quite startled to see Marionette in the kitchen.

"I apologize. I get a little… Confused when I first wake," Marionette quickly addressed as he turned to the kitchen.

"I-Uh… I didn't mean to wake you. I just- I fell asleep on the couch and was checking you and Foxy again…" Jeremy explained in embarrassment. He felt a little more uncomfortable being here like this. As though he was an unwelcome trespasser; though the puppet seemed mostly unbothered.

"I was going to get up regardless," Marionette pointed out as he retrieved the cake mix boxes from the pantry. "I need to get started on tomorrow- Or today, more like. These cakes must be ready by time we open." He pointed this out matter-of-factly. Indeed, he didn't have time to bake after opening, and he didn't want to have to force someone else to finish his job.

"It's pretty early. Don't you need to sleep?" Jeremy asked in confusion. He was already feeling exhausted from his lack of sleep. The few hours he did sleep did help stave this off.

Marionette got a strange glint in his eyes. "Actually, I do my best work between Midnight and six in the morning…But you already knew that." He couldn't help it; Jeremy was so easy to play with. Besides, it wasn't as though he could actually do anything to the man. He was too stretched for time as it was. He still chimed in amusement, but noticed Jeremy's continued uneasiness. For a moment sympathy settled in. "You know where my room is. Go sleep in my bed."

"Are…Are you sure?" Jeremy was surprised by the puppet's seemingly random burst of generosity.

"Yes. I have a feeling Foxy won't be able to perform tomorrow, which means that I will have to perform in his stead," Marionette explained. "Which I am fine with! Though I won't be able to come back to check on Foxy. It you're not as under the weather as you were, you would be perfect to watch Foxy. He's very fond of you."

"Yeah, I think I can do that… I was going to try and go in, but Foxy's more important than me being there to cough on all the kids," Jeremy agreed. He was starting to feel a little better anyway, and it would give him the day off from work. Though Marionette's final statement caught his attention. "…He really is?"

"Very much! Foxy's not the type to get close to humans. Foxy has never, before you, became close with any human. Especially not one who was previously a security guard," Marionette explained with delight on his voice. As upset as Foxy could get, he always seemed to perk around Jeremy. Perhaps him being the fox's babysitter would help the captain come around quicker. It helped that Jeremy took the comment like he had been awarded some sort of title. "Now head to bed now before I force you to bake with me."

He had a feeling that Jeremy's hesitation was more out of not wanting to offend him than to the threat of baking. In reality, Marionette was more likely to drag him into baking than getting offended. Especially considering how much he enjoyed the baking. It helped him keep his mind busy. If he kept working, he could pretend that the day beforehand was over and done with. It seemed to work well enough. By time Marionette was icing the first cake, he had completely forgotten what he was trying not to remember.

By time he put in the cupcakes and went to ice the second cake, there was a stirring in the house. One of the doors opened and Marionette hesitated for a moment to check if it was Foxy. Instead of the squeaks of metal, probably still wet from the snow, he noticed a familiar presence. Mike was awake and Marionette felt an immediate perk. He moved a little quicker, trying to get to a stopping point before Mike eventually appeared in the kitchen. It was a bit odd that Mike was awake so early, about twenty minutes earlier than his alarm, but he waved it off as nothing.

Mike shuffled into the kitchen looking worse for wear and immediately went to the coffee machine. He poured himself a cup of cold, leftover coffee and microwaved it. Only then did he turn his attention to the puppet.

"Little early to be baking, isn't it?" Mike asked with grogginess heavy in his voice.

"Not if we want everything done by opening," Marionette quipped back jovially. "Maybe you need more sleep? I don't know if you'll be at your best with such little sleep."

"I don't have a choice," Mike added in with a half-smothered yawn. His hair was a mess, he hadn't changed into his uniform yet, and everything looked askew. Marionette found it endearing, but decided not to voice this opinion. Instead, Mike's next question shot the conversation in a different direction. "How's Foxy?" His concern was wispy; he was clearly still upset.

While Marionette felt the need to protect his brother, he couldn't blame Mike for defending him. It felt good, even though he knew it wasn't right. However, this question was loaded, and he juggled it the only way that he could.

"I don't know…. But Jeremy said he thought he was asleep earlier. He had a tiring night so I'm not surprised," Marionette answered him. "…To be safe, I think that Foxy shouldn't work today."

The disbelief was immediate. "Excuse me?" Mike responded right back. "Foxy's the reason we're all going to struggle today. He has to be there." He snapped his fingers, "We've got birthdays today."

"I know, Mike, but I can handle it," Marionette insisted. The look on Mike's face was dumbstruck and the puppet abruptly spun to face him. He wouldn't put up with another argument, even if it was from Mike. "Even if we wake Foxy and drag him in there, I have no faith that he'll be fit to perform. I'm fine- No, I'm better than fine; I  _need_ to go into work. I need this and I can do this fine… With or without Foxy." He didn't want to sound insensitive or like he was trying to replace Foxy, but he wanted to lay it all on the line now.

So, Mike didn't argue. His face softened and he went against normal behavior to completely back down from his growing annoyance. "I just don't want you to get in over your head. This would be the first time you've ever been the only animatronic on the floor, right?" Marionette gave an agreeing nod. "Look, I just… I know how it is," Mike admitted sympathetically. "You think that keeping busy will make it go away. I'll admit, it does help sometimes, but this is a recipe for disaster." He paused for a moment, glancing over towards an iced cake. "…I don't want last night to happen again."

More than likely, he meant the crying, and Marionette couldn't help but feel embarrassment from the memory. "I…It's different," the black and white animatronic insisted. "Trust me, Mike, when I work it- I won't be able to have a meltdown like last night. I won't physically be able to, so I'm not afraid."

"That doesn't mean-," Mike cut off with a sigh as Marionette moved in, spreading his arms as though preparing to hug him, "Mari, I'm trying to be serious. I'm worried about you." The puppet hugged onto him, pressing into his shoulder affectionately, and with another sigh to show his disappointment in being ignored, Mike hugged back. At least he could give him this much.  _"It's not like I can stop him… And he's not going to be moping around here with Foxy. That's always a plus."_

He rubbed over Marionette's back in circular motions. At least he wasn't crying; Mike half expected to come out here and find Marionette weeping. This was a lot more comfortable.

Though it lost its charm once Mike remembered something, "…Jeremy's still here?" Suspicion raised and he slowly looked back towards the living room. After last night's questioning, he couldn't imagine what Jeremy would think seeing them like this. To his relief, Jeremy wasn't standing right behind him like he expected.

"He's in my room," Marionette clarified as he pulled away and headed back to the oven. "Maybe we can borrow his car?"

Mike inwardly groaned at the reminder of his dead car and retrieved the cup out of the microwave. Desperate, Mike turned to the coffee, his salvation. "It's already going to be one of those days…"

* * *

Marionette didn't exactly realize what he was signing on for. He technically knew what he was expected to do, but some part of it simply didn't click. Somehow, Marionette didn't fully realize that he would be expected to do everything that Foxy did, along with delivering gifts and cake, exchanging tickets, and giving out tokens. Thankfully, Jeremy's absence was replaced by Natalie, which mean that either she or Mike were constantly in the main party room. Usually they distracted the parents or were helping direct the children.

There were just so many and Marionette's track only went so far. After a while of mostly dodging children, appeasing them by passing out free tokens and exchanging for tickets, Marionette was cornered into doing a birthday party. He knew the formula he was expected to do already; cake, entertainment, gifts, entertainment, free tokens, games, and then bracing himself for the next party. Yet it felt so strange doing it.

Back at the Freddy's that he once performed at, Marionette's job didn't leave the prize corner unless it was a rare, preplanned event. He only was involved with gift giving, smiles, and popping out of his box. Being an active part of a birthday party only went that far. He was nearly trembling in excitement when he wasn't shuddering with dread.

Mike handed over the cake that Marionette had made only hours before. "You've got this. Once this gets cut open, those kids are as good as distracted," Mike spoke to him with encouragement. He flashed a smile at the animatronic, "If it gets out of hand, you can always get your arm stuck back in the skill crane," he playfully finished with a wink. At least he was somewhat confident in this attempt.

The puppet held the cake close to him and approached the table sluggishly. There were so many children scurrying around the table as he approached, but thankfully a dutiful father called them to attention. Marionette carefully chimed through the birthday song, lowering himself down and offering the cake to the birthday boy to blow the candles out on. There was something so wonderful about this; about watching a happy child wish for something with an eager face.

The day before didn't exist. Foxy didn't exist. Everything that Marionette was created to do was to make this child happy. Something felt so good about letting his programmed instincts kick in.

It was a giddy daze that he was lost in as the cake was sliced and dealt out to the children. Marionette was expected to stay, so he had no reason to leave, and eagerly relished in the moments that the children wanted a distraction. A chime of delight, a spin in place of happiness, and the music that could only be made when children laughed. It felt good to not be feared.

While the children finished eating, Marionette hurried to retrieve the gifts, then returned to present them to the child. It was a little earlier than intended, but nobody seemed bothered. He handed over each present, one by one, and watched as the birthday child opened each with growing vigor. With his primary task finished, Marionette took a few moments to attentively circle the pizzeria before returning to the party table. While in execution it felt like everything was going quickly, he continuously checked the time, knowing the second party would arrive at any moment.

It wasn't until he was handing out free tokens to the children at the party that the second one arrived. Closely booked, perhaps, but originally Marionette assumed that the second party would go just as smoothly as this one. That was until he noticed exactly how many children were coming in through the door. That was right; Foxy's didn't have a set limit for children at a party like Freddy's had. Freddy's was too afraid that too many people would equal a child getting misplaced and going 'missing'.

That fear hit full force. Marionette glanced over the three adults escorting the kids in and felt immediate suspicion to an older man of about forty. Something was amiss with him, something he couldn't lay his finger on.  _"It's you. It's just the fear of the Purple Man. He's just a normal man,"_ Marionette insisted to himself. Yet he could not stop staring.  _"He was a criminal, maybe? That could be. That doesn't mean he's doing anything now, but…_

Maybe he was a familiar with the restaurant, maybe Marionette had seen him before at Freddy's, and maybe he was involved with Afton. Maybe he had come to kidnap a child to take to the underground holding cells. 'Pop Goes the Weasel' was almost on his voice, but in the more aggressive way. He could feel his insides winding, begging to fling forward and force the man out of the Pizzeria. The purple hue was starting to spread over the man's face and he was having trouble making out normal features. As though the purple was sealing his fate.

It was only out of luck that a child bumped into him at this time. She was young and sweet, giving a tiny 'cuse me' after the fact, and the perfect distraction to pull Marionette out of his focus. He affectionately patted her head and offered her a few tokens in response. He couldn't dwell on the man when he had children to entertain.

So, Marionette finished up with the first party and moved onto the second. The party would already be entirely different, he quickly realized. Instead of a birthday boy or girl, it was a set of female twins who were being celebrated, and they seemed a bit younger that most of the other patrons. They were even younger than most of the other children at their party. One twin was excited when he appeared. The other one cried for a couple of minutes before being won over by a complimentary Foxy plush.

Carrying out the cake was virtually the same as before. He got it from Fritz this time, who seemed to only previously leave the kitchen to deliver pizza, which Marionette didn't deal with. It was the other cake he baked this morning, a white cake with strawberry icing, so there were no surprises. The only thing that would qualify as a 'surprise', or at least as a moment of alarm, was the regression Marionette faced when taking the cake to the table.

Before, this moment had been poignant and inspired him to keep going. This time, his mind waited until this moment to suddenly fixate on the man with the party, who now looked purple to him, and his own confusion. It crept up his back and down his strings, slowly taking ahold as he forced his outward body to continue doing its job. As the cake was lowered and offered to the twins, who were now both equally excited, Marionette tried to talk himself down.  _"You know that he isn't really purple. You just see him as purple."_

Disturbance continued to grow as he tried to keep his music on key with the singing of the other children and mother.  _"Phone Guy looked purple. Mike looked purple. Father looked purple. They always look purple at first. It's you, it isn't them. He isn't a murderer, he isn't a threat, he's just a man whose escorting these children."_ The tension eased just a little bit and the girls blew out the candles. The cake was then submitted to the table to be cut, and Marionette took his free moment to vaguely lapse into a memory.

_He didn't understand how the purple man found him so quickly. Even as grotesquely stained as his skin was, or how his face seemed to break open with an overeager smile, it was just a sheer shock to know that he was here. It wasn't like anyone was here to protect the puppet any longer either. The pizzeria was closed, the old animatronics had been moved, and there weren't even night guards any longer. The other toys were gone too. They had been destroyed and there was nothing Marionette could do except escape from the same fate._

_He knew what he had done to Toy Foxy, how the Purple Man 'helped' in her destruction, and he could only suspect that he came back for him. Marionette knew he had some sort of weapon somewhere on him and knew that outright attacking was not an option. Yet the Purple Man was merciless, stalking the hallways and searching him out. He couldn't hide and yet he couldn't leave either. He only wished that Goldie would appear and protect him, but by now Goldie was far away, protecting the others. He had promised Mari he would protect the others._

_It didn't matter whether it was the supply closet, the kitchen, or the now empty Prize Corner, the Purple Man stalked him all over the pizzeria. It was only a matter of time before they had to confront each other. Eventually, Marionette decided that he could stall no longer. He couldn't continue to hide in the shadows and wait for him to leave, as Purple Man was clearly not going anywhere. As the murderer entered the dining hall, Marionette appeared there as well, revealing himself._

_The Purple Man's voice was a garbled mess that Marionette couldn't decipher. He clutched something in his hand and moved closer to the puppet, who gave a warning blare of music, alerting that he was willing and able to pounce. The only thing keeping him back was a mix of savoring the moment and hesitating to make sure that the man wasn't holding a weapon. As the Purple Man took a tentative step forward, Marionette's aggression peaked, and he started to move in. It was only now that the man raised his hand and he saw what he clutched._

_It was a familiar, golden colored teddy bear. Marionette recoiled immediately at seeing the plush. How did he have it? How much did he know? It frightened him enough to stop his attack, to cause him to consider fleeing yet again, but the Purple Man came closer. His voice was still distorted, but a single, repeated word came through._

" _Marion."_

_Marionette began to panic only further. Why did this monster know so much? How had it gotten his 'friend'? It stepped closer, murmuring in a low voice. With every word, they became more clear, with every step it moved closer. "Do you remember me?" Marionette remembered what he did. "It's me, Marion. I'm… I'm your father." The Purple Man started to hand out the bear towards him, coaxing him closer. "Do you remember who you were?" He did, but he didn't understand what was going on. His father?_

_It was then that the voice suddenly sounded more familiar and the distortion started to fade away. The purple on his skin started to wane and, for a second, Marionette didn't see the Purple Man. He saw his own father. He looked older, he looked thinner, he looked more tired, but he recognized his father. Instantly, Marionette buckled…_

Marionette pulled out of his memory quickly enough. He was left in a sort of fog, but thankfully the children were more focused on the cake instead of him. To take a quick break from the constant job of being entertainment, Marionette lowered himself into a kneel between the seats of the twins. From the outside, it would look like he was keeping close to the birthday girls, while in reality he needed a few moments to fight back the growing thoughts that were poisoning his day. He didn't want to think about his father right now.

Thankfully, distraction came in the form of a random child stumbling into him and pouring a half-melted bowl of ice cream down his back. Before the twins' overly concerned mother could come pat him down with a napkin, which would've been even more uncomfortable than the ice cream, Mike sprung to the rescue and hurried over. After a quick excuse, escorted Marionette out of the room and to the prize counter. He then hurried off to get the cleaning supplies. The quicker Marionette got back on the floor, the lesser chance of the kids getting restless.

Meanwhile, the puppet was having restlessness of his own. He feared going back out with the children, knowing that any moment he could start dwelling on unsuitable subjects. He was about ready to spill his fears when Mike returned. The only thing that really stopped him was that the security guard entered and immediately spoke.

"You're doing great," Mike encouraged as he set down a box of wet damp, cleaning wipes on the counter. He then snatched one and went at the ice cream, hoping to get it out in case it would stain. "I didn't think there would be this many kids, but you're still balancing it better than Foxy would of." Of course, Mike didn't clarify if he meant normal or emotionally distraught Foxy, but Marionette took it as a compliment regardless. "Kudos to not losing it the second that kid dumped a pint of ice cream on you."

"I think you're exaggerating," Marionette playfully pointed out, keeping his voice low enough that nobody nearby could hear. Mike smirked in response and continued to tend to him, carefully cleaning him. It only helped that his praise was accompanied by the gesture.

"Still, you're doing great. This party's almost over and the next one isn't for a couple of hours," Mike encouraged further. "All you have to do is keep on like this. You're already halfway there."

The puppet chimed happily before quietly admitting, "I may have to spend more time out of the Prize Corner more often. Ice cream aside."

"Yeah, you need to keep away from the ice cream," Mike warned in a mutter. "Because I don't think you're going to get out of this twice without stains, and you don't look like you would react well to folding yourself into a washing machine." This got a chime out of the puppet as the man finished. "Alright, you're done."

"Thank you, Mike. I don't know what I'd do without you," Marionette admitted as he headed towards the door. He was already feeling better; Mike's praise making him feel a confidence that he didn't expect. If this was his reaction to the puppet doing his basic job, then the puppet could certainly keep doing it, and he would force out the purple that weighed him down. "…Other than learn how to wash myself in a washing machine."

Then they headed back out into the fray. Their long day was not over.


	44. Chapter 44

It took Foxy longer than expected to get back to work. It already took almost a week for him to finally start leaving his bedroom and, once that happened, he was just about ready to return to the pizzeria. In this time, Marionette had filled his role nicely. There was the occasional question about Foxy's whereabouts, but most of the kids seemed more than satisfied with the puppet's efforts. After all, it did help that Marionette was so overly attentive towards details, overcompensating to meet standards that he himself set on his own.

However, Foxy was finally ready to return to the pizzeria, and it was just in time for Valentine's Day. Or, more specifically, the week before the holiday. While being a holiday that Mike shrugged off, Marionette again embraced the holiday with the upmost eagerness. Though he seemed to be the only one. Neither Jeremy, Fritz, nor Natalie seemed too focused on getting the restaurant holiday-ready; and this was saying a lot considering that Fritz and Natalie's relationship was only becoming more obvious as the days passed by.

Mike had decided to back off on his teasing of the two, mostly out of the suspicion that they would clam up and start hiding it without need. It wasn't worth the hassle. Besides, Mike didn't like Fritz's recent string of comebacks, but that was another story. Foxy seemed onboard enough for celebrating holidays, but being that this was his returning week to the pizzeria, he seemed less attentive on it. Jeremy didn't seem to have an opinion on it. It really was Marionette who was so wound up by the idea of another holiday.

"Where did you put the paint?" Marionette asked from the hall as he circled the house and searched. Mike glanced towards the clock and noticed he was cutting it close.

"Hall closet, plastic toolbox," Mike rattled back as he slipped on his jacket and buttoned it up. Today would be an easy day, considering that there were no planned birthdays and that it was a school day. The rush would most likely come between three and six and, even then, Mike didn't have the upmost confidence that they would have many children in. Marionette reappeared into the kitchen with the box and sat it on the table, opening it and searching inside.

"Would you do me a favor?" he chimed in questioning. "I need you to paint me."

The security guard glanced back and studied the puppet's face as he dug through the box. "Your paint looks fine to me," he pointed out.

"I need to change colors," Marionette clarified and retrieved two tubes of paint. "I need you to make my cheeks and lips more red and my stripes pink. We just need to make sure I don't cry between now and arriving at the pizzeria." Mike didn't know whether he was joking or serious. Marionette sounded like he was stating it seriously, but even then it could've gone either way.

"Alright…" Mike glanced over to the pastry box on the table. "But I get a cupcake. If I'm expected to focus, then I need the sugar." He was already reaching for the box as Marionette gave him a less than impressed look.

"Those are for the children," Marionette tutted in return.

"I'm not going to be a starving artist. I get a cupcake, you get your face done," Mike playfully answered. It wasn't as though he expected them to sell out the cupcakes on a day without parties anyway. Finally, Marionette raised a hand, the box nudged closer, and the transaction was done.

Mike was more comfortable painting Marionette this time. He still paused his cupcake eating while he did to keep focus. Marionette eagerly pressed into his hand as Mike dabbed his paintbrush into the red. Marionette's mask responded oddly to paint. When painted, it would absorb the color and nearly glow with it, keeping ahold for as long as it could. He had a feeling that he would have to repaint it again once Valentine's day was over and done with. He whistled to himself and pressed the red paint against his cheek.

Marionette trembled and chimed as he was painted on. It seemed like he was having trouble sitting still, but Mike was still having a relatively easy time. At least he could tell that the chiming was out of some sort of joy; as though he was this eager to be painted. He had no idea how much Marionette enjoyed his attention. Alas, the painting was soon finished, and Mike returned to his cupcake.

"You look great. Should we get going?" They would be cutting it close as it is, so he was surprised at Marionette's answer.

"Not yet…" The puppet looked the human with interest. He turned his head towards the box of paints. "…Could I paint you?"

"…Are you serious?" Mike asked in confusion. "Paint what?"

"Just on your cheek. Just a cupcake or a pizza slice," Marionette offered with a growing eagerness in his voice. "You could feel what it's like to be under the paintbrush."

Mike wasn't exactly sure whether or not he wanted to have a painting stuck on his face all day. Especially when he was supposed to be some sort of guard to scare off the possible prowlers. On the other hand, Marionette seemed excited about the possibility, and he had seen enough of his sketches to trust that he could freehand and produce something good.

"Sure, knock yourself out. Just keep it small, okay? I can't look too goofy," Mike pointed out with a small smirk.

"I don't think I can make  _you_ look goofy, Mike," Marionette retorted as he got his paints out. "Just close your eyes. It will make it easier for me." Mike complied and Marionette began to work. He held Mike still, his free hand under his chin, and gently applied the cool paint to the skin on his left cheek. It didn't take too long before he had painted what he wanted and released the male. "There you are! You look perfect," Marionette chimed as he moved to squeeze the human's shoulder, then passed to wash out the brush. "We need to hurry."

"That's an understatement. We'll have to drive at the speed of light to make it by opening. I'll just sneak you through the back," Mike returned as he put on his security cap and stood. By time he had locked the door and got into his car, Marionette was already waiting in the back. Thankfully, Mike had gotten his car working after he replaced the battery, and since then it had been working without fail. He glanced into the mirror briefly before actually noticing what he had on his face. "Oh, that's clever."

"What?" Marionette asked, seemingly innocent.

"I said nothing goofy. I think your face counts as goofy," Mike remarked as he looked at the small doodle of Marionette's face. It was cartoonish and purposefully too cute to be on the face of an adult man.

Marionette chimed pleasantly and laid his hands on Mike's shoulders, reaching over the back of the seat to do so and seemingly smiling wider than usual. "Just something to show who's on your side." He squeezed his shoulder playfully and Mike groaned.

"I can only imagine what Fritz is going to say about this," Mike responded. Though he understood the gesture and recognized that it was more affectionate than some sort of joke. Thus, he would wear it.

They eventually arrived at the pizzeria, slipped in easily as no customers had arrived yet, and prepared for the day ahead. Foxy didn't seem rusty at all and took back to his job with eagerness. Performing for the children kept him happy and confident, so returning to the normal routine of returning daily wasn't difficult for him. Though Marionette did keep an eye on him in case he became overwhelmed. During the three-thirty 'rush', Marionette decided to leave the prize corner and started to pass out heart shaped cookies.

It wasn't the same as tokens, but the children were just as eager to accept a free Valentine's Day cookie. Originally everything seemed normal and Marionette was having a good time wandering the floor and dodging running children. He had circled his track and was prepared to return to his box when something caught his gaze. Sitting at one of the smaller tables was a small group of teenagers. They hadn't ever been in the pizzeria before and didn't seem to be doing anything except poking at a few pieces of pizza.

Interest slowed Marionette to a halt as he looked between the four. He didn't recognize them, nor did he understand why they were here, but he felt a sort of curiosity. Teenagerhood was something that he mostly missed out on and, as it was, he had seldom encountered one since he had become an animatronic. It was as though he was approaching a strange animal that he wanted to examine; he inched closer to the table. It was then that his innocent curiosity shifted to a firmer prying. Why  _were_  they here?

They weren't playing any games, nor did they seem interested in the pizza, so them hanging out in the restaurant was confusing. They noticed him by time he arrived at the table and stared at him questioningly, as though he was the odd one out in his own pizzeria. To silently excuse his arrival, he offered the basket of cookies to the group. One of the girls dared to reach out and take a cookie, a boy said he would 'pass', and Marionette lingered a few more moments before sluggishly drifting away from the table. The teens watched him, but made no attempt to leave.

So, he decided to make a trip past Foxy and waited until the child clinging to his leg moved on. The fox animatronic looked to him questioningly and the puppet leaned closer to murmur to him. "Keep an eye on those teenagers. They don't seem to be causing trouble, but I find them… Out of place." He didn't say it in an aggressive way. Marionette didn't feel fear or overprotectiveness towards the teenagers, just this lingering confusion at why they were here. Foxy seemed to have the completely opposite suspicion.

"I saw 'em. Prob'bly just a couple of kids lookin' for a hangout," Foxy suggested to Marionette with more confidence. He turned to look back at the teens. "…So what did you do? They're starin' over here."

"I offered them cookies," Marionette responded, feeling stiffness settle in. The teenagers were just old enough that the freezing reaction from being stared at was still present. Not enough to stop him completely, but enough to be moderately annoying.

Foxy hummed and poked at one of the edible hearts with his hook. "Makes perfect sense now…" He couldn't help it, and he couldn't help but chuckling as Marionette responded with silently heading back to his Prize Corner.

At that time, Foxy assumed that Marionette was overreacting.

Regardless, the teenagers left later that afternoon and hadn't seemed to cause any trouble. By that evening the restaurant was closed and after a quick cleaning, Mike and Marionette had left. Fritz and Natalie left shortly after, leaving Jeremy to finish up with sweeping. Then he too left, mentioning something about returning home to Daisy, and Foxy was alone. Which he didn't mind. The pizzeria had become his home and he felt comfortable being there. He didn't have to worry about purple skinned men and dangerous night guards.

Foxy had retreated to behind the curtain to plan for tomorrow when it happened. He could hear the squeak of the back door opening multiple footsteps, and soft talking amongst various humans. For a moment, Foxy naturally assumed that it was his four human coworkers and didn't feel willing to confront them. Or he hadn't at first, until he heard a voice that he didn't recognize. Foxy nudged the curtain open, thinking that maybe it was still them with a new worker. The moment he noticed that the three humans wandering into the party room were strangers, Foxy lost what control he had.

Night mode kicked in and the hunt was on. He thudded down from the stage and sprinted towards the three with an aggressive shriek in his voice. He raised his hook as one of the three was caught in his gaze.

* * *

Mike scrambled to grab his cellphone off the nightstand. He was still half asleep and only barely functioning as he answered the phone. "Hello?" he groggily answered.

"Someone broke in," Fritz's voice was practically frantic and he got straight to the point. "Foxy just called me. He's got them cornered in the women's room, but we need to get down there, now. I already called Jeremy." Again, it took Mike a moment to process the situation, but once he had it hit hard.

"Are you serious?" Mike threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. Still on the phone, he searched out his uniform. "How'd they even get in?!"

"I don't know. I'm going to have to look once I get there… Ugh, I don't know what we're going to do if they broke that front window." Fritz sounded stressed as he continued driving, trying to hold his phone with his shoulder. "I'm letting you go. Get over there as fast as you can, okay?"

"I'll be there," Mike finished and they ended the call. The security guard hurried to get dressed in his uniform. His tiredness slowly faded as his adrenaline began to sink in. Along with anger; he couldn't help but be furious that someone would break into the pizzeria. At least Foxy had got them; he hoped that Foxy left some sort of a mark. He finished by slipping on his badge; it wasn't much, but maybe the sight of it would strike fear into whoever was there.

" _Until they realize I'm an underpaid security guard. Then I'll have to taze them,"_ Mike mentally accessed as he left the bedroom. There was no reason to wake Marionette, so Mike instead jotted down a note for him and slipped it under his door. He didn't want to risk going in and waking the puppet, as he could hear that the music box had already went out. The note wasn't that important and proclaimed the basics: " _Disaster at Pizzeria. I'll be back eventually. Go back to sleep."_ It would do enough.

The drive felt brief, but by time Mike arrived at the Pizzeria he could see Jeremy's car and the Freddy van. The lights were on in the Pizzeria and Mike parked before jogging to the front door. He bounded inside and immediately saw what was going on, looking over the scene and letting everything set in. He expected to find three adults, not three teenagers. Especially not three teenagers who he recognized from earlier.

"Alright, what's going on?" Mike demanded as he crossed his arms and stepped into the scene. Fritz was standing there while the three teens were sitting against the wall, while Jeremy was nowhere to be seen. Before the technician could speak, he swore he could hear one of the male teens say something under his breath. It sounded like 'purple police'. "I heard that, kid. You should be happy that I didn't bring the police with me," Mike scolded right back with growing annoyance.

"These kids decided to break in and snoop around," Fritz replied, forcing a firm time and a slight leer. His exhaustion was too obvious for him to look threateningly. "Turns out Foxy doesn't like strangers in his home." He nudged his head back towards the distant stage. When Mike looked back, he could see Foxy barely peeking through. For a split second, Mike actually felt thankful towards the fox. Things had gotten slightly better between the two of them, or Mike's feelings got better, and this only helped.

"I got it!" Jeremy stepped out of the hallway with a rag in his hand. He looked more awake than both of his coworkers. "They jammed this rag in the door at some point. This kept the door from automatically locking, then they just snuck in later." He looked down at the three teenagers before looking back to Mike and Fritz. "It's locked now."

"Good. We'll have to keep an eye on that," Mike stated and beckoned the teenagers. "Get up. All of you. I'm taking you home." He then glanced to his friends to see if they agreed with his decision.

Fritz gave his opinion with a blunt, "Give their parents hell." He then looked back to Jeremy. "I'm going to check the security tape to make sure everything's in order, but the safe wasn't touched. You need to check the windows and everything else; I don't want this happening again." Jeremy agreed and headed off to check the kitchen.

The three teenagers sluggishly stood and followed Mike out of the front. He expected them to flee the second they stepped outside, but they didn't. If anything, they just kept their gaze to the ground, and seemed rather frightened. Even the boy who he suspected said 'purple police' seemed uncomfortable. Mike opened the backseat door and started to usher them in. "You're lucky we're going so easy on you. If I didn't have to worry about our image, the cops would be here."

The boys climbed into the car and the female was about to join them, but froze. She stared past Mike for a moment before jumping back from the car. "You're connected with Freddy's," she suddenly pointed out, as though accusing the man.

Mike was a little surprised at the random comment, but didn't visibly show it. "I don't know what you're talking about, Kid. Come on, get in the car." She continued to look reluctant, glancing past him. The security guard looked back and realized that she was staring at the van and the obvious 'Freddy' logo. "…We need to burn that thing," he muttered to himself. He rolled his eyes to himself and looked back to the girl in exhaustion. "That was just an inheritance. Has nothing to with- Why am I even explaining myself? Just get in the car."

The girl now did so and soon Mike was back in the driver's seat. "I need an address," he pointed out and one of the boys, the quieter one, rattled out a street and number. The security guard drove out of the parking lot and started on his way. He hoped that they wouldn't ask questions, but the girl mustered enough will to speak.

"You're wearing a Freddy Fazbear uniform too… I recognize the color…" She was hesitant in the words, but still spoke. Neither of the boys had the nerve to ask questions once Foxy appeared and the threat of cops came out into the open. "And Foxy was one of the characters…"

"Don't read too much into it, okay?" Mike really didn't want to have to answer hard questions to teenagers. "Some of our stuff did come out of Freddy's, yes, but that doesn't mean anything."

Silence only lasted for a couple of moments. He made the mistake of glancing into the rearview mirror and noticed the girl, behind his seat, was still watching him. She wasn't sated; he knew that look. Though he didn't expect what was coming.

"We weren't trying to rob anything, we just-." One of the boys made a gesture for her to quiet down, but she completely ignored him. "I just wanted to see some things…" She knew something; that much was obvious. "We were… We were trying to find out more about Fredbear's Diner and Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, but we couldn't find anything. It was only a couple of days ago that I found out this place opened and…" He knew it was coming. "What happened to the diner? To the pizzeria?"

"Alright, so let's just cut the beating around the bush," Mike started. He nearly said 'mulberry bush' and wanted to smack himself for the inward thought. "We all know what the consensus is about Freddy's. Everyone either thinks it was haunted or evil, or something like that. Everyone thinks it." He briefly glanced at the mirror and noticed that she was still listening, unfazed. Of course, she heard the rumors. "The truth is that Freddy Fazbear's Pizza was mismanaged. Nobody knew what they were doing, nobody was checking the hires, and the place fell apart."

"What about the missing children?" the girl continued to ask. They had done their homework. Mike didn't know whether to be impressed, concerned, or generally not care.

"One whacko stalked out a pizzeria to kidnap kids. It's a terrible thing, but that's what happens when businesses get away with slacking." He tightened his fists on the wheel. He hated saying this when he knew what he knew, but he couldn't help but blame the company for what happened. William Afton wasn't the only person who led to the murders. Henry Johnson has stood aside and did nothing while Fredrick only stepped in once there was nobody else. They were all at fault. "And eventually it caught up to them and business went under."

The girl fell silent as the car slowed to a stop in front of a house. "This it?" Mike questioned and the quieter boy nodded and hopped out. He ran to the neighboring house, but it was close enough. "Who's next?" Mike inquired. The two teenagers looked to each other in an unreadable moment before the other boy gave his address. Once back on the road, the questioning continued.

"You… Worked there?" the girl asked. She sounded so interested and he couldn't really understand why. She had to have been a child when Freddy's was at its prime; how would she know about it?

"I was a night guard when Freddy's was on its last leg," Mike admitted. "But it went under and we opened Foxy's with our own money and our own intent…" He paused and then added, "But not our own van. Not enough in the budget for a new van." This seemed to pacify her enough that she stopped asking questions. He dropped off the second teenager at his home, then got the last address. There were things left unsaid and Mike decided to end the drive with a final statement.

"I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you weren't coming in to steal anything or vandalize. You three weren't wearing masks, you weren't carrying any tools or anything, so I'll give you that much." Mike grew more firm, "But take my advice and don't look into Freddy's. There's nothing worth finding." At least this was the partial truth. "And make sure that your friends know that if you try to sneak in again, I'm pressing charges… If you can get in. We're getting actual locks after this." A slight smirk passed his lips as he turned onto the appropriate road.

"We really weren't," the girl reassured. "And we won't. We just- It was stupid."

"Mind telling me why you're so interested in Freddy's anyway?" Mike asked curiously as he slowly rolled down the road. "Which of these is it?"

"The white one on the left," she pointed out. "…And my dad used to work there." There was an odd somberness. Mike decided not to ask; he had dealt with enough daddy issues between him and Marionette already.

As he stopped outside the house, the front door opened and a robe enwrapped woman hurried out. Mike couldn't help but send a smirk into the backseat, "I'm glad I'm not you right now." The girl quickly got out of the back seat in time to have the woman rush to her and start propositioning her with questions. It was surprising that she was awake, considering that Mike was shocked that he hadn't passed out at the wheel, and she looked like she wasn't sleeping anytime soon. She was inquisitive and furious.

After the two exchanged some words, mostly demanding for answers on where the girl was, the woman approached the passenger window. Mike rolled down the window and she leaned in.

"Thank you for bringing her home. I don't even want to know where you found her," the woman, possibly her mother, pointed out with weariness in her voice.

" _No, you don't,"_ Mike mentally tutted. However, he decided to give the girl a break. If only because there was already a possibility of two-way blackmail with the break in and Freddy's. "It's nothing, Ma'am. I was driving by and saw her walking home, and being how late it was it didn't seem right to leave her walking."

The woman had started to stare at him. He wondered if it was because of his uniform and if she recognized it too. "You have a good night," he continued, questioning slightly in his voice.

"You too. Thank you so much," the woman regained her voice and started back to the house with the girl. Just driving away from their house made Mike feel slightly better.

" _I should've kept my mouth shut. What was I thinking? We're trying to stay separated from Freddy's and I decide to let her know, flat out, that we're connected to Freddy's. Great plan."_ His own self-scolding didn't necessarily make him feel any better. At least he was somewhat certain that the girl wouldn't tell her mother. If she did, if any of them did, all they would have to do is supply the video evidence. Still, he doubted that it would get that far.

It had been a long night. In the end, Mike either did the right thing or had made a very foolish mistake, and the further he got away from the house the less he thought of it. It was around this time that he noticed a restaurant that looked to be open. He had passed it a few times before, but had never been interested enough to stop, especially when they were now in partial competition with Foxy's. After very little consideration, he turned into the parking lot. He wasn't probably going to sleep tonight anyway and he didn't expect Marionette to be awake.

The restaurant was almost empty. An older man sitting at the counter was the only customer there. Other than the waitress manning the counter, Mike caught a glimpse of another woman heading into the back. It was still three more people awake than he expected. He sat down at the counter and glanced at one of the paper menus stacked nearby. He didn't want to get coffee, he wanted to sleep at some point tonight, but he didn't want to just come in and order nothing. It was weird enough that he was driving teenagers home.

" _I'm two steps away from being Purple Guy creepy,"_ Mike reminded.  _"I've got to at least get toast or something."_

"Is it a mime?"

Mike glanced upwards at the sudden comment from the brunette waitress. She was leaning against the counter further down, staring perplexingly at his face. "Is what a mime?" She tapped on her own cheek in response. Her hair was wavy and framed her freckled face in small curls. Like him, she was also clad in a uniform for her place of business. A playful smile made it to her lips as Mike got a suddenly look of alarm.

" _Oh, you've got to be kidding me…"_ He touched his cheek and recognized the dry paint sensation.  _"And that explains why that woman was staring earlier. The one night I don't take a shower. That's just great."_ The waitress was still looking at him and he forced a smile. "Forgot I was still wearing that. I work over at the children's restaurant across town, you know?" As though this would excuse the painted face.

"I had a feeling it was something like that," the waitress chirped back. "But it's cute! So mime?"

"Close enough. We're not really sure ourselves," Mike joked back as the waitress gave a polite hum in return. "I'm Mike."

"Louise," the waitress returned with continued eagerness. Maybe he wasn't reading her right, but she seemed more interested than he would expect her to be with a normal customer. "It's a little late for business, isn't it? I didn't think anyone else was open."

"Yeah, I have a feeling that this town shuts down at seven," the man returned with a small smirk. "But no. I had some security guard duties to take care of." As though dropping the title meant as much as it would when mentioning Freddy's.

"Oh, a security guard? I knew it had to be something special. We don't get many men in uniform in here," Louise responded. She was definitely flirting and he could clearly tell.

"What? Are you saying most people don't walk in dressed in electric purple?" She giggled in response. "Didn't think I'd be getting such a good audience or I would've brought better material."

"I think everyone's got better material when it's not the middle of the night," the waitress responded. She then noticed that the older man was starting to stand and that she had to tend to him. "Hold on, I'll be right back." She left for only a few moments to tend to him before returning. She carried his dirty dish, stopping by Mike before heading towards the kitchen. "You know, I'm a pretty good judge of character."

"Are you?" Mike responded in equal interest.

"Yeah. That's why I spend my nights working in this place. I don't have to see much of them," she added in, as though a joke of itself. "This might be presumptuous, and I might be rushing this, but I think I might like to see more of you. Why don't I get you something I know you'll like," she started, "and maybe you could return the favor by taking me somewhere nice this weekend?"

For a split second, a single moment, Mike thought about Marionette's reaction. Though he instantly recovered enough to answer. "Sounds good to me, as long as I'm not required to paint my face." Louise giggled in response.

Maybe the evening finally turned around.


	45. Chapter 45

When Mike awoke, he could already the feel the effects of being awake most of the night. He exhaled slowly as he felt light tapping on his arm and let out a questioning sound; almost like a curious groan, if that was even possible and cohesive.

"It's morning," Marionette softly reminded as he kept his hand on his arm. "I didn't know how long you were gone, so I assumed that you could do without the alarm." He was clearly worried about what happened at the pizzeria, but decided against pressing for answers. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live," Mike muttered tiredly before turning into the pillow. "Other than me playing taxi driver to a bunch of teens who didn't know how to read a 'closed' sign," he added in with an obvious complaint. Really, it hadn't bothered him at the time, but now he was feeling the effects of that, the post-midnight snack, and the time between that and getting back in bed. "It's over. Don't worry about it."

Marionette wasn't sure if he could just 'not worry', especially when he had noticed those teenagers being so out of place previously, but he pulled away to address the clothes that had been left on the floor. Mike usually didn't discard his clothing on the floor, but it was obvious that he was exhausted. The animatronic chimed softly as he worked on gathering the clothing and folding it.

For a few minutes, Mike stayed in bed. The soft chimes lulled him into a false sense of relaxation and he nearly fell back to sleep. Though the music abruptly cut off. The puppet hadn't left either; Mike could still hear him moving clothing, so the sudden loss of music was odd. The human groggily rolled over only to find Marionette standing directly beside the bed, staring down at him. Mike quirked a brow and in response Marionette raised his hand, a slip of paper clutched in his fingers.

"What's this?" His voice was immediate and direct. His tone was not suggesting any immediate emotion.

The security guard took a moment to recognize the paper, "It's a phone number. Is that a problem?" He playfully asked right back.

Marionette's voice was oddly devoid of tone. "No... Of course, not." Mike started to sit upwards in bed, planning to get up, but the puppet refused to move from where he was. "I hope it's not from one of those teenagers. You should know better than taking phone numbers from people who just- Oh… You still have your paint on." Slight ease edged into his voice as he looked at the mark he had painted. Mike touched it and grumbled, having again forgotten to wash it off.

"You could've reminded me that I left this on. I would've looked more threatening," Mike pointed out with a sigh as he rubbed his head. "After I left the pizzeria, I stopped to get something to eat and met someone. Her name's Louise, I think you'd like her." He stood, Marionette letting him by, and went to search out something appropriate for work.

"That stands to be decided on," the puppet retorted in a more aloof way. His behavior had completely reversed from earlier. His original helpfulness and curiosity had been completely replaced by a reluctance. Mike assumed it was because of the pizzeria, though it could have been from him not coming home after he was at Freddy's. He knew the animatronic was the type to be upset when something unexpected happen.

"We're going out this weekend. Maybe you can see her then if she drives by," Mike suggested as he changed shirts. He had a feeling that Marionette would like Louise. From their talk last night, she seemed to be the bubbly type, which the puppet emulated well. "I mean, it's about time I was back on the market. It's been a while." There was no response and he continued getting dressed.

Then, all of a sudden, Marionette started to the door. "You can lay back down if you like. It is still a bit early; the cake isn't even done yet," he pointed out. Then he was gone. Mike got the feeling that Marionette was still not convinced of the entire situation, but just assumed that he would calm down after a while.

Mike finished getting dressed and eventually did wash the paint off his face. He then stepped into the kitchen expecting to have to slide around a disturbed animatronic. To his surprise, Marionette behavior had, again, took a sudden jerk.

"Here," Marionette chirped as he handed him a plate with a sandwich. "You can't keep going without breakfast. It's not exactly a full English breakfast, but it's more than a cupcake." His voice sounded lighter and his smile seemed a bit more natural. "I'll get you some coffee." Suddenly he was helpful and Mike was suspicious.

"Thanks…?" Mike looked to the plate and then to the puppet, noticing his sudden helpfulness after such dismissive behavior previously. He sat down at the table, considered his words, and then added in, "Just so you know, I'm not planning on bringing her into the house or anything. I wouldn't put you in that spot."

Marionette chimed lightly as he poured the coffee and brought it to him. The chime was different; it was less lively and more like a reflex. Mike knew it was forced. "I didn't expect you to," he answered, taking a seat on the other side of the table. "But on the more important topic. Next time someone breaks into the pizzeria, wake me up."

"This isn't going to happen a second time. There's no way we're letting this happen twice," Mike answered quickly in his defense. "I couldn't trust you not to follow and I didn't know what I was going to be getting into. Foxy was already involved; we couldn't lose both of our performers in one day, right?" he playfully asked. "Though it would probably take more than a couple of punks to take us out of commission. Am I right?" He gave a wink to punctuate it.

The puppet gave a sort of agreeing shrug. "I think that we've handled worse, yes?" Mike agreed and began to eat. Marionette watched him do so silently, showing little interest anything else.

Because Mike was right; nothing had broken them apart so far. Nobody had broken them apart so far.

* * *

It took a while for Mike to realize that Marionette's behavior was still off. At first, he thought that Marionette's behavior was back to normal, as he was being helpful and talkative. Then it started to dawn on him, slowly, that the puppet was a bit more helpful than usual. During the day, Marionette had stuck remarkably close to Mike, and once had directly beckoned him into the Prize Corner so that he could talk to him about refilling his token basket. At the time, this was still normal-looking, and Mike did as suggested.

It only really struck him that evening. Mike was on the couch watching a pitiful attempt at a soap opera on TV. Bored out of his mind, he glanced over at the puppet, who was tucked in the chair. He was just about ready to offer turning on the video game system when he suddenly noticed that Marionette  _was still there._ Usually by now, Marionette would be stitching something, or drawing, or something along those lines. Instead, he was patiently watching the television with his human companion, doing nothing in particular.

Marionette was hovering; he wouldn't leave Mike's side even for a second. The security guard decided not to question this and instead waited to see if it would go away on its own.

Because this wasn't that unusual for the puppet, and Mike didn't mind the company.

* * *

Over the next few days, Marionette couldn't help but stick close to Mike and be as helpful as he could. While the human didn't seem to notice, or didn't bring it up, Marionette continued to assist in whatever ways he could. As what was bound to eventually happen, Valentine's Day arrived.

"I'm home," Mike called in as he stepped into the house. He immediately noticed how warm the house felt; especially compared to the cool temperatures outside. It wasn't like this before he left, but he had been gone to both Jeremy's and to the store shortly afterwards, and was glad to be home. He set down a red, paper bag on the dining room table and looked over at the stove. A few pots were soaking in the sink and the oven was on; the house was drenched in the smell of chocolate.

Marionette appeared at this moment with a greeting chime. "I was wondering what kept you! How was Jeremy?" He headed towards the oven, briefly checking inside.

"He's doing fine. He's still putting that Minireena in dresses and things- that's a little weird, but whatever turns him on- he's fine other than that." Mike's casualness changed to a more eager smile as he leaned on the back of the couch. "I had to stop for something on the way back." He glanced over to the item on the dining room table, trying to coax the animatronic. Marionette glanced over and chimed happily.

"You got me something? Mike, you didn't have to do that," he insisted as he approached the table and abruptly dug into the paper bag. He was beaming, he stopped, he stared, and then he slowly raised the item out of the paper bag. He looked over to the security guard with a look of disbelief. His wide smile flickered to a flat look as he held the monkey shaped plush in his hands.

"Don't look at me like that- he's perfect!" Mike smirked in a clearly patronizing way. "You two look nearly separated at birth." Marionette glanced to the red sock monkey in his hands before facially showing that he absolutely didn't agree. "Okay, okay, I saw him in the display and thought you'd get a kick out of him. He was the last one," Mike clarified further as the puppet now looked more intently at the gift. His face softened and he pulled it closer, hugging it to his chest, but then turned away in a somewhat snub-like movement.

"What did you distract yourself with while I was gone?" Mike asked curiously as he sat down. "Smells pretty good in here. Baking?"

"There a cake in the oven, yes. Hold on a moment," Marionette responded as he checked inside the fridge. "Hmm… It's not set yet… Anyway, I made homemade chocolate. It needs a little longer to firm, though."

"You don't have to go through that much effort, Mari," Mike pointed out. Especially after laughing at his expense, it seemed like a necessary fact.

The animatronic gave a soft chime of light amusement. "I think you're worth it," he pointed out. Then he got a slight bit of a sly look, "I haven't killed you yet, have I?"

Mike shrugged his words off, "I don't think you could."

"Perhaps not. I've become rather attached," Marionette agreed. Then he opened the fridge again, impatiently took one of the chocolate molds out of it, and set it down on the table.

"No, I meant that I don't think you can," Mike clarified, or perhaps challenged, and sat down at the dining room table. "There's a reason I outlived the others, you know. Your older brother didn't even get close." He couldn't help but test the waters a little further.

"You never went against me," Marionette reminded him right back. For a split second, his eyes had a glint of a white glow, but not an aggressive one. Perhaps just one continuing this growing challenge between them. Either way, it only riled Mike more.

"We'll see if you can back up that talk sometime. I don't know how; we might just have to break down and fistfight," Mike suggested with the continuing smirk of playfulness. "The next time Foxy decides to split, we can do it at the pizzeria. It should be entertaining enough for the kids."

"I'm not so sure about that. I don't think it would last long enough," the puppet continued and watched as Mike started to pop a couple of the heart shaped chocolates out. He then began to ring further in amusement, clutching his new sock monkey tighter to his chest. "Oh Mike, you have no idea how fortunate you are. What would you do if you weren't my weasel?"

"I have an idea and I have no clue," Mike spoke with a quieter tone and answered both. At first the animatronic thought he had imagined it, but his human companion was clearly looking to him in interest. This sent of tremble of eagerness through him. It was a sharp contrast to the usual sensation he felt when he was getting stared at. He popped one of the chocolates in his mouth and only then broke eye contact. Marionette decided to follow suit and looked down at his plush toy. Maybe it had been a sort of joke intention, but it was soft and adorable, so he would treasure it.

Because Mike got it for him and was spending Valentine's Day with him instead of anyone else.

* * *

Though Marionette began to doubt himself, and the thought that nothing was going to change, when the weekend finally came into the picture.

He had waited the entire day, watching Mike go through his normal routine, and expecting any moment for the male to either announce that he was leaving or decide to call off the date. After all, Louise was still a stranger, so it didn't seem too unlikely that the security guard may decide to stay in for the night. This didn't come to pass.

"Alright, I'm going," Mike randomly announced as he passed by the back of the couch. It was around seven o'clock and, from what the puppet had seen and heard, he hadn't received any calls from the girl he was intending to date. This surprised the animatronic who turned around and peered over the couch.

"Now? Isn't it a bit early? You used to meet Natalie later than this," he asked, hoping that the man would agree and decide not to leave just yet.

"Nah, this is about when we were going to meet. Give or take a few minutes." Mike checked his wristwatch, the one he had gotten as a Christmas present, and gave a nod. "I should get down there. I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll have my cellphone if anything happens." As though that would make the animatronic feel any better about the situation. "Try not to destroy the house while I'm gone, alright?" There came his playful smirk, a brief respite, and he headed towards the door.

"Be careful out there," Marionette warned and Mike gave a positive answer before leaving. His car could be heard backing out of the driveway and he drove away, leaving his puppet companion entirely alone. For Marionette, it was just a matter of burning off the hours of the evening until Mike returned. Yet, unlike usual, he found his list of possible activities stunted. He simply didn't feel much of an urge to do anything at first. The whole situation had just put him in that sour of a mood.

The one night he wasn't awake and Mike had gone out and became interested in a random girl. The one night that Marionette wasn't awake; he would keep kicking himself for that until this whole fiasco was over. With a huff of static, he put in one of his tapes and hoped to put his annoyance towards something more deserving. Or better yet, the sight of familiar 'friends' would make him feel better. Though it was moments like these that reminded him that he really didn't have to many friends who he could trust with everything. Except Mike.

Though there were some things that he could just not confide in Mike. Case in point, his feelings towards this night in general.

Soon he was watching Bonnie babbling on the television while being comforted by Freddy. This managed to pacify him just a bit. Though his mood continued to decline once he realized what he had landed on.

" _She's been stolen away and I was supposed to protect her! Can't you understand?! It's not just sort of my fault, it's ALL my fault!" Bonnie babbled on to his best friend. He then collapsed down onto a chair, covering his face in shame. "I let them take her away. Oh Bea…"_

" _Stop that," Fredbear frowned and clapped his hands onto the bunny's shoulders. "You did all you could to protect her. We just… Underestimated the true power of the emperor. If it wasn't for Max saving us, we all would be goners." He explained as he looked back to the door. Chica was standing there with a worried look on her face._

" _Oh, Hun, she'll be fine! Bea's a tough girl- nobody'll ruffle her fur," Chica tried to encourage as she stepped inside._

" _I just care so much for her…" Bonnie looked between them both. "I really do love her."_

"Oh, please," Marionette bitterly chimed in on a conversation that he clearly couldn't interact with. "You only love her because she's a female rabbit. Let's see this same conversation if she wasn't clearly made for you." He tried to keep watching, he really did, but growing frustration was causing a return of the static. He muted the volume and looked to the sock monkey and Golden Freddy plush toys on the couch beside him. After a few moments, he decided that they were better than nothing, so he let it slip.

"In real life, someone with a similar name and color pallet doesn't just appear out of nowhere to become your soul mate. If that was the case, I wouldn't be sitting here alone, would I?" It was then that he realized exactly what he was doing. Desperately, he tugged the Golden Freddy plush into his lap. "Goldie, I wish you were here. At least you would be able to… Never mind. You would just say I was being overdramatic," he dropped the plush to the side and pulled his legs to his chest.

Once this event was over, Marionette became determined to waste time. He struggled to distract himself; drawing lasted briefly, baking involved little input, all of the plush toys were mended, and manipulating them to act out little scenes always ended in bitter reminders that things wouldn't end how he wanted. As much as he tried to put Freddy and Bonnie together, Bea would always be a very real thing. It hurt more than he could've imagined. In the end, here he was sitting alone, wasting time.

Eventually it just became too much to stand. He gave up on the evening by nine o'clock. Mike was still not home, which he couldn't understand how he had yet to get home, and Marionette ran out of ideas. There was nothing else he could do to distract him that would involve him staying in the house. The only thing he could do now was pass time in a more efficient way; turning to the entrapping sleep of his music box. He headed to his bedroom and carried the music box to his own box. He folded himself inside, closing the lid, and laid the music box on his lap.

" _I won't be able to meet Mike when he gets home… But perhaps I can be awake before he goes to sleep,"_ Marionette believed as he began to wind the box. He couldn't help but linger in that moment, feeling himself already starting to fade as he continued to wind the box. Then the music started to lull forth and the puppet promptly submitted himself to it.

Because there was no point in waiting around if he could just sleep through it.

* * *

_Marionette beamed as he watched Bonnie proclaim his love for Freddy on the television. "This is wonderful! I've never seen this episode!" He turned to Goldie, who was sitting beside him on the couch, who sat there stiffly, unmoving. "I thought he and Bea were together!" Marionette continued to gush as Goldie continued to stay entirely silent. It was looking at the gold bear that the puppet noticed Mike down the hall, grabbing something out of the closet. He then continued further towards the living room, putting on a dress jacket as he approached._

_Marionette leaned over the back of the couch, "Where are you going?" Suspicion laced his voice. "Come and watch TV with us! Freddy and Bonnie have finally become a thing!_

" _Can't. I'm going out with Louise. Nothing special," Mike obviously lied as he wore such a fancy suit. However, Marionette couldn't prove this until, as Mike was approaching the door, a small box fell out of his pocket. The puppet hurried over, grabbed it, and sat back down on the couch to examine it closer._

" _What is this?" he asked in confusion and some due suspicion before opening it. Inside was tucked a gold ring with a large heart-shaped diamond on it. Marionette gasped very audibly and looked over in annoyance. "What is this?! An engagement ring?!"_

_Mike gave a playful shrug, "It could be."_

" _No, it either is or isn't," Marionette snapped back with growing irritation. "You just met her, Mike! You're already planning on marrying her?!" He was about to lose control of any restraint he had._

" _Depends on if she says yes," Mike chirped back and snatched the ring box back before the puppet could protest. There was a knock at the door. "That's probably Louise now," Mike continued and hurried to the door. He opened it and began to talk to someone who sounded sort of like Natalie, but whom Marionette could not see past the security guard._

_Marionette felt like a wreck. His body shook frantically as he shook his head. "No, I don't- This can't happen! No, Mike, you can't marry her! I don't want her in my house!" The puppet called over, but went completely ignored by Mike and Louise, who he assumed was at the door. "I can't believe this!"_

" _ **You should be keeping an eye on it**_ _," Goldie's voice suddenly announced. As though flipping a switch, Marionette was completely enraptured by his command and looked back towards the golden bear on the couch, still unmoving. His stoic tone had been sudden and unexpected._ _ **"It's not gone. You didn't get rid of it."**_

_It was obvious that Marionette had no idea what the golden bear was talking about. However, Goldie didn't have to answer any more questions, because 'it let herself in. There was a grinding noise, a mechanical groan, and something slowly dragging itself closer along the carpet. It slowly emerged around the couch and continued its sluggish approach towards the striped animatronic. It was Ennard._

_The puppet looked back to Mike and tried to warn him to no avail. He either couldn't hear him or simply wasn't listening. By time he looked back, Ennard was climbing the couch in front of him. Its blue eyes stared directly into his own as its white face plates shuddered._

" _You left me behind…" The amalgam asked before suddenly jumping forwards to grab at him. He didn't even feel its touch._

_Because it wasn't even there._

* * *

Marionette felt worse waking than he had going to sleep. His box felt cramped, his body limp, and everything was simply too tight. The nightmare was quickly shoved aside as a disturbing cluster of the night's events. With a huff of annoyance, he pushed the music box aside and popped out of his box, heading out into the living room to see if Mike had returned yet. The living room looked mostly untouched and he felt a growing static in his chest as he looked out the window. He couldn't fathom how the man wouldn't be back yet.

It was now that he was taken aback to see that Mike's car was in the driveway. With the static disappearing, he immediately headed to the hall. He glanced at the Grandfather's Clock as he passed and was surprised to see that it was four in the morning. He had somehow managed to sleep through the entire night and hadn't even awoken when Mike returned. Mike hadn't even tried to wake him…

The puppet came to a sudden halt outside of the master bedroom door. What if, and he hated to think it, Mike had brought the girl home with him? Other than Marionette having no choice but to kill him, he wasn't sure how to properly react to an intruder in his house who he had not welcomed. Suspicious, he teleported into the room and scanned it with scrutiny. Though it became apparently quickly that what he expected was not reality. Instead of Mike in bed with a girl, Mike was just asleep in bed, as he usually was at this time.

Now feeling relieved, Marionette approached Mike's side of the bed and looked down at him. Just knowing he was home made everything in the house feel more complete. It was all back into its proper place now that the human was home safe and alone.

…But to Marionette's surprise, he didn't feel immediately better. In fact, his brief relief was only followed by a looming shadow. He reached out and lightly fussed with Mike's hair, getting it somewhat neat, trying to get some warmth out of the gesture. Part of him wished that Mike would've awoken, turned over, and attempted to comfort him. He could've told Mike he had a nightmare, they could've sat together as Mike comforted him- he didn't even need it, but he wanted it- and naturally he would let the puppet slip into bed with him.

…But to Marionette's continued surprise, he couldn't do it. He couldn't purposefully wake him. Instead he turned and left the bedroom. At least he could still tend to the man while he was home, and he decided to leave him sleeping for now.

Marionette returned to the living room and sat down on the couch alongside the sock monkey and the Goldie doll. It was a similar setting to earlier, but an entirely different scenario, and even though he should've felt better he found himself feeling worse. He had no idea how the evening went or whether Mike would see Louise again. He didn't know if this was a one-time thing or would occur again. He could only sit here and wait just as he had before. Though this carried its own revelation.

Even after all this worrying, Marionette knew it was in vain. He couldn't physically stop Mike from seeing her. He couldn't even call Mike, as he didn't have the man's cell phone to use and was reluctant to ask anyone else for assistance. He was in a helpless situation and, even though this night had gone on relentlessly, reminding him of the dreadful future that could come, there was no immediate out. This lonely night was only the beginning of many.

Because Mike was attracted to girls, and even if he wasn't-

Marionette pulled in tighter to himself.

-he wasn't attracted to  _sock monkeys_.


	46. Chapter 46

The mood in the pizzeria was off. After coming back from a day off, the pizzeria was usually abuzz with a renewed vigor. Something was off today, but neither Fritz, Jeremy, nor Natalie could specifically note what it was. In fact, it wasn't until mid-day break that either of them truly realized what was happening.

The pizzeria was completely empty. The second and third party wouldn't be until the later afternoon and luck had somehow secured a brief period where there were no children wandering around. This was what initiated the mid-day break in full, allowing everyone to get a few moments to cool down. However, usually this break was taken in the kitchen or the back of the party room, but Mike had decided to step out the back door and sit on the step behind the Pizzeria, near where the Freddy van was parked.

This was weird enough as it was. Usually, Mike took his break in or around the Prize Corner. The others didn't question this as they knew it gave him and Marionette some time to converse. Instead, he had decided to randomly sit behind the Pizzeria instead. Taking this as some sort of cue, Fritz and Natalie followed him out back, shrugging it off. It wasn't as though Foxy couldn't watch the front of the pizzeria for a while and Jeremy wouldn't be back with lunch for at least a few more minutes.

"You know, I'm thinking of picking up smoking just so I have something to do on break," Fritz joked as he stepped out into the cool air and looked around for a place to either sit or lean. "Doesn't seem like much else to do out here."

"I'm the one stressed out enough to need a bad habit," Mike randomly voiced his complaint out of the blue as Natalie stepped out. Unlike them, she opened one of the van doors and sat halfway inside.

"You look a little tense," Natalie pointed out with a concerned quirk of the brow. "Is something going on?... Wait, didn't you have a date yesterday?" Fritz also looked a little more interested, but Mike quickly shot down any suspicion.

"Saturday. It went fine, we're supposed to meet up in a couple of days," Mike quickly skimmed over. He then sent a glance back at the door, almost to check that nobody was listening. "Have you noticed what's going on?"

"With you? Yeah, I think everyone noticed that something's a little off," Fritz butted in matter-of-factly. Beyond its seemingly joking tone, there was a clear concern underneath it. The technician wasn't afraid to point out the security guard's progressively silent behavior. Indeed, Mike had spent most of the day with little to say, keeping himself distracted with busywork.

"It's not with me. It's with Mari," Mike pointed out. "This  _thing_ , this cold shoulder, has been going on since yesterday. It's driving me insane." It was pretty obvious that he was ready to vent about it and hadn't had a chance to before now. "I don't know if you know what it's like to live in a house with someone clearly snubbing you, but it's not something you can just ignore."

"I know what it's like," Natalie volunteered. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. I don't even know when this started." He gave another huff and a glancing glare towards the door, as though he expected someone to be listening in. "Yesterday he was shut up in his room for most of the day. I just thought he was busy, so it wasn't a big deal. Then, I finally manage to corner him in the hallway when he's trying to get in the closet, and he wants nothing to do with me." Mike's frustration was obvious in his voice. "And he's been dodging me since then."

"Sounds rough," Fritz sympathized. Natalie, meanwhile, jumped right in with her own suggestion.

"You said you went out on Saturday," she reminded, "do you think that this is connected to that?" For a split second, she and Fritz unintentionally made eye contact. It was good to see that they were on the same page.

"I thought about it, but he was fine before I left. I think I would've noticed something then..." Mike then shrugged it off. "But then again, who can tell? Mari never comes out and says anything, so I just have to guess until he eventually lets me in on what's up." There was more bitterness in his tone, but it was covering the harder emotions to swallow. Mike did better with frustration than trying to access the concern that lay a little deeper. It was really bothering him that suddenly the Puppet was blocking him off.

The back door opened and he, again, looked back in anticipation. Instead of whatever he was expecting, it was Jeremy carrying a couple of paper bags. He looked at the three in confusion, "…I know we had that break in, but this seems like a little too much security." He followed with a playful smile before gesturing back inside. "A kid came in with me, but I think Foxy's got it covered."

"I'll go keep watch," Fritz volunteered and passed Jeremy, taking one of the bags and thanking him for getting lunch. Then it was back to three, though a different three. Jeremy sat down beside Mike and began to dig into one of the bags, bringing out a sandwich to eat.

Natalie decided to continue the conversation with Mike. "Maybe you should try being straight with him. If you're direct, he might be more willing to open back up," she offered. "I don't know Mari as well as you do, but you two seem too close to hold a grudge. If he's that upset about something, then he's bound to tell you." Mike didn't give an immediate answer. Instead he just took one of the bags, but then held it with a lack of interest.

"I'll figure something out… Mari probably won't be able to keep this up forever. Eventually he'll need me to screw in a lightbulb or something, then he'll be forced to at least point me in its direction." With that, the conversation seemed to drop. However, the mood in the pizzeria didn't immediately change. If anything, it just became more obvious that Mike and Marionette were avoiding each other. The Puppet only left the Prize Corner when the security guard wasn't present and retreated quickly if Mike reappeared into the party room.

Things got a little easier once the second party came around. Marionette was then required to leave the Prize Corner, as he had been personally requested for the party, and Mike stayed in the room to watch as he tended to the children. It was almost a cruel joke to watch him be so kindly and act so normal with the children. Marionette had a way of lighting up a room, and yet out of the blue that had been stunted from Mike's grasp. He suddenly had no access to the warmth that he provided.

While Mike couldn't prove it, he had a feeling it involved the date as well. Louise was a sweet lady, but it was obvious that Marionette had no interest in meeting or trusting her. How this turned to him snubbing Mike didn't fully make sense, but it was still a working theory. Nothing could be confirmed or proven yet, and only once it was would be when Mike could figure out how to fix it.

Then, as though on cue, she walked in.

Mike couldn't help but be surprised when he noticed Louise walk into the pizzeria. He briefly looked to Marionette, awaiting a reaction, but the Puppet was too enthralled in entertaining the children. Believing he was distracted enough, Mike approached the female with a smile. It was somewhat a reflex, but he did feel slightly better to have a distraction. "Coming to spy on the competition?"

"Well, hello there, stranger," Louise playfully remarked with her own smile. "It's my break, so I decided to use it and come see this pizzeria you were going on about."

"I wouldn't say 'going on'. I'd say more 'extensively warning'," Mike clarified with a joking tone. He then gestured around the restaurant, "This is Foxy's. That's Foxy." He gestured directly to the fox animatronic who was currently crossing the party room floor. "That's Marionette." He now gestured to the Puppet who was now delivering gifts to the birthday child.

"Oh! It's a marionette! Very cute. Face paintings should be required for your job," Louise suggested in a further teasing way. Mike briefly cut in with a 'no way is that happening' and Louise looked around the room with further interest. "I can see why it's so popular with the kids. You don't have any competition in town; there's not really any place for kids to go anymore."

"It seems weird that nobody ever capitalized on it," Mike suggested. Indeed, after Freddy's it seemed like nobody else wanted to risk the stigma of opening a business in town.

"The closest thing is that Italian place with the playground. They've amazing dessert," she casually remarked and noticed Mike's growing amusement.

"Is that a hint?" Mike asked, briefly glancing to check how Marionette was reacting. The animatronic was now kneeling in front of who looked like the birthday child, interacting with him in some way that Mike couldn't see. He wasn't paying any attention still.

"You bet it is," Louise retorted. "If our businesses can team up and steal their recipes, we should be in the clear. I'll get the equipment, you get the person willing to break in," she playfully remarked.

"Or we can just go eat there and smuggle out dessert," Mike suggested just as easily. He could use some time out of the house, he supposed.

"That sounds good too! You're paying this time, alright? I don't make enough to go dining twice in a week," Louise pointed out. This seemed to be a proper exchange and Mike agreed. He checked Marionette again and he still didn't respond in any way, so the security guard continued arranging the plans.

He needed another night out, maybe, and Marionette didn't seem to care regardless.

* * *

Rain drummed on the roof as Jeremy reclined on his bed. He was half-awake, feeling too tired to stay awake any longer. Though right when he was at the boundary of dipping into sleep, he heard a soft tapping. Jeremy shifted in bed and looked over towards the bookcase. Daisy was still in the cardboard box that he had fashioned into a bed. Whenever Jeremy decided to sleep, the Minireena would follow his suit and curl into her bed. He didn't think that she slept, but he appreciated that she stopped staying awake all night.

It was not her though. The Magician was still out in the living room as well as Jeremy remembered leaving the TV on for him. It was something else and he rolled over and looked at the window.

There was a white face staring through.

Jeremy sputtered and flinched in the bed, staring at the face peering in at him. "What-?!" he started and cut off as his mind unclouded and he recognized it as Marionette. The puppet continued tapping on the window. "What?" Jeremy asked again, now even more confused as he reached to turn on his lamp. Instead of the faint light from the living room, the lamp light illuminated everything to a less unsettling degree, and he got out of bed so that he could approach the window. He unlocked and opened it, "What are you doing?"

"I thought I might stop in for a visit. We are friends, are we not?" It was a rhetorical question and Marionette proceeded by sliding into the window easily. "I'm sorry I couldn't make a better entrance, but I couldn't just pop inside. I've never actually been inside before." He looked around, studying the bedroom, and his eyes landed on a poster on the wall. "Oh, Foxy! That's sweet. Does Foxy know you have a poster of him?"

"Uh, I don't think we've ever brought it up," Jeremy excused as he closed the window. He noticed that the animatronic was dripping on the carpet. "How exactly did you find my house? I- I don't remember ever saying where I lived…"

"Mike once showed me. It was a long while back, but I've been meaning to visit," Marionette waved off. He was still exploring the room and avoiding Jeremy's gaze directly. Finally, he noticed Daisy's box and peered inside. "And hello to you, Daisy. You're lovely this evening." The small doll started to climb out of the box and he could see her yellow dress better.

"What about Mike? Why didn't he drive you over?" Jeremy asked in further confusion. Something about this evening just seemed odd.

"He's out tonight. That's why I came over, so that I had something to do," the puppet seemingly innocently explained. It suddenly clicked for the human.

"Oh, he's out with Louise? That… Makes a little more sense," Jeremy admitted as the animatronic turned to look towards him. His smile was the same as usual.

"Oh? You met the elusive Louise?" Marionette asked. Jeremy expected him to be indifferent, but he was a little taken aback at how his tone dipped when he said her name. He was suggesting he didn't know her, but he sounded like he knew and didn't like her. "How did you get the opportunity?"

"She was at the pizzeria earlier today." Jeremy noticed how Marionette's arms dropped and how, barely, his eyes widened. "I thought you saw her. You were over at the birthday party, but she and Mike were talking right by the front door. They must've made their plans then… Are you okay?"

"I'm fine…" Marionette responded. "I'm just…  _Surprised._ I didn't expect her to come by. Nor did I expect that Mike would not tell me she came in," his tone was definitely shifting now. He could hear a touch of static.

"Yeah, well, I mean- Mike said you two weren't really talking," Jeremy admitted to him. "Mari, he was really worried earlier about you acting strange around him…"

"Not worried enough to stop his date, thankfully!" Marionette gave a wave of his arm as his voice held the most obviously mock-joyful and completely bitter filled tone that it could.

Jeremy was prepared to protest, but he was interrupted by a thump out in the living room. He looked towards the door before looking back to Marionette. "The Magician's out there. Let me just check on him real quick." He then sped out of the room to go see what was occurring. A few moments passed before Marionette looked down at the Minireena standing on the dresser.

It was acting different than the ones in Afton's. He didn't know if it was from being away from Ballora, but she was much more docile, and her aggression was exchanged with mischievousness. He leaned down, resting his elbows on the dresser and his head in his hands, and looked down at her. Daisy took a tentative step to the side, but then tilted her head with curiousness. Marionette began to chime the melody that he learned from Ballora and waited to see a reaction. The Minireena immediately reacted by raising onto her foot.

She began to spin daintily on the dresser, raising her arms in a delicate pose. She looked like a ballerina that would be found in a music box; spinning to the tone. It was adorable.

It was a shame that the music came back to haunt him. He could still feel some of the soothing nature of the tune, but the memories associated with its most recent exposure also returned. He could remember the few times that they danced together. It was unusual and new, strictly for fun, but now it was a hollow memory. People danced on dates; so maybe Mike was already out making memories with someone else. Meanwhile, Marionette fondly remembered being held close, and dancing with his human partner.

" _What a somber end to such a joyous time,"_ Marionette inwardly grieved. Every wistful note rung with a growing sorrow; his own music became more tragic as Daisy slowed her spin to keep pace.

Then Jeremy stepped back in. "Sorry, he knocked over a couple of things trying to get the remote. It's all fixed now… Uh… Everything okay?"

Marionette's music halted and he continued his smile as Daisy stopped and gave a bow. "I was just watching little Daisy here. She is an amazing dancer," Marionette praised before looking closer at her dress. "And if you ever need someone to make these handmade, I will. I just need the fabric provided to me." He lifted the yellow edge.

"That's… Yeah, great. She could use them… Seriously, though, what's going on?" Marionette looked to him and Jeremy looked even more concerned. "Your paint is… Running?" The puppet's hand immediately jumped to his face and he recognized the wetness. He had been crying, again, and he hadn't noticed it,  _again_. Inwardly he swore in annoyance, but outwardly he waved it off.

"These things happen some times. The rain, maybe," Marionette lied as he hovered back. He was suddenly very uncomfortable and, under any other circumstances, he would've fled with his dignity. However, he was too determined not to return to an empty house. He couldn't stand waiting all night for Mike again.

Then Jeremy suddenly pieced together the liquid with a past memory of seeing it on Mike's shirt. "You're… You're crying. Mari, there's something wrong. You're avoiding Mike, you're crying, you're- you're here, of all places!" Jeremy was starting to get a bit firmer, but then all of a sudden, Marionette completely crumbled.

"Do you know what's wrong, Jeremy?" Marionette asked before clarifying. "Wrong is having your position as a confidant filled by someone who knows  _nothing_ about the job. Wrong is having to watching Mike waltz out of the house like everything's fine-," Marionette began this list with betrayal on his voice, but normality in his tone. Yet as he struggled to wave off this list with bitterness, he abruptly lost control of himself. "-and being forced to be quiet while you're  _coming completely undone!"_ His voice raised in volume and now the static joined it, then the room went silent.

Jeremy stared at the puppet, the puppet stared back.

Then Marionette collapsed on the floor at the foot of the bed. He pulled his knees against himself and wrapped his arms tightly around them, burying his face into his legs to hide it from the human. Jeremy stared in shock and so did Daisy. Noticing her, the human lifted her and carried her to the door, setting her on the floor.

"Go watch TV, okay? We need a minute," Jeremy explained to the small doll who tilted her head and then hurried off. He shut the door behind her before approaching the puppet again. Now standing in front of him, he crouched down in front of the striped animatronic. Sympathy was clearly on his face. "This is why you've been acting differently around Mike. It  _is_ because he's going out with Louise." Marionette shifted, but didn't respond. "Mari… Can you be honest with me? Maybe I can help."

"You can't," Marionette answered him. "This was bound to happen eventually. Mike made me feel human, and feeling human is a horrible feeling." He sounded so distraught on his voice, as though he had completely given up. "I thought that I was enough for Mike, but he needs another human to be with. One who can give him so much more than I can."

"That's not true!" Jeremy protested. "What can Louise give him that you can't, huh?"

"A normal life, for one." Marionette raised his head just a little. The tears were still pouring down his mask and he looked saddened. "Marriage, children, grandchildren, holidays on the beach, Thanksgiving celebrations with all their relatives; Louise can give Mike everything a human can. I can't give him any of that. All I can give him is all of me; my undying loyalty to him…" He shook his head. "It's not enough."

Suddenly Jeremy knew what he was dealing with. "Oh…" It was a weird situation, but it suddenly clicked. "Oh Mari, I… I'm sorry."

"No. I'm sorry," Marionette insisted. "I shouldn't have brought my problems to you. I didn't intend to; I honestly wanted a distraction… But Mike is such an integrated part of my life. Even if I didn't want to be fully invested in him, I don't have a choice any longer." He tried to wipe at his tears. "And it hurts me to be cold to Mike, but I can't help feeling betrayed. Even now he is forgetting me by being with- by being with his new lover."

"Maybe you should tell him?" Jeremy suggested.

"That would only shorten the time we have left. As I see it now, I still have until they need my bedroom for their children. Until then, I can still live with Mike and be a part of his life. After then, I will go to the pizzeria and be an animatronic again…" He looked to Jeremy, allowing him to see his face as he explained. "Mike always made me feel like I was more than just an animatronic. That my life could amount to something greater, even now with the Purple Man gone… But without Mike, it feels like I was holding out hope for nothing."

"Well… Is there anything I can do to help?" Jeremy asked hopefully. He doubted it, but he wanted to give the suggestion. "I could mention to Mike-."

"Don't," Marionette firmly commanded.

"Okay… Or you could just stay here while Mike's out. Might take your mind off things." This was Jeremy's back up idea and this seemed to be the one that worked. Marionette gave a stiff nod and curled into himself again. In the meantime, Jeremy sat down beside him to get more comfortable. It seemed like it was going to be a long night.

Then again, Jeremy wasn't too unused to long nights.

* * *

Mike was genuinely having a good time. Though he would've had a better time if he could keep his mind at the conversation at hand and off Marionette.

He felt like he was just going through the motions of a normal evening. Louise looked lovely, was happily talking about whatever came to mind, and completely fine with him being slightly distracted. She was so easy to be around and nice to talk with, but unfortunately it was just not enough to make him forget about the issues at home. Unfortunately, now was also when Mike's emotions decided to switch gear from being annoyed and confused to just being worried. He couldn't stop obsessing over what was happening at home.

What was Marionette doing now? Normally, Mike would assume he was doing one of his many hobbies, but it seemed like he had stopped those as well. Or stopped doing them in front of Mike. He hadn't even noticed him baking the cakes for today's parties. He was slowly closing the security guard off. Meanwhile, Mike smiled and made a half-hearted joke to show Louise that he was paying attention, even when he was mentally clouded by the problem at hand.

The trouble was that Mike spent most of his time conversing with Marionette, and the change of roles wasn't adjusting fully.

Because Louise was a wonderful girl, but it wasn't like she could replace Marionette. Mike didn't want to lose what relationship he had built with the puppet, not after all he had to go through to build it. Marionette was that rare event that was never supposed to happen; a friendly animatronic who was willing to live and cooperate with him. Whatever was going on, he had to straighten this out quickly.

It felt weird missing someone who he was living in the same house of. He was already deprived of the chiming, of the playfulness, of not feeling like he was walking on eggshells when being at his own home. He felt unwelcome and needed to fix this as soon as possible, but had no idea on how to do this. So, he smiled at Louise and pretended to have a good time. He pretended that he was invested in the food.

During which, he continued to circulate through his own thoughts and tried to find a solution. It wasn't looking promising.

* * *

Things hadn't gotten better by the next day. Mike and Marionette had still not spoken directly and, currently, the security guard was off in the master bedroom while Marionette was mindlessly staring at the television. Yet another of his tapes was playing, but he was barely paying any attention to it. After the night before, Marionette was feeling lither than ever. At least Mike was home and hadn't mentioned haven't another date in the near future. This was only a temporary relief, but it was more than he had felt in a few days.

The sounds of Mike's cell phone ringing on the dining room table struck Marionette. The puppet instantly teleported to the table out of reflex and went to grab the phone. Then he froze, hand poised over the cell phone, and was hit by a sudden thought.

" _All I would have to do is tell her that the relationship isn't working out… It would be so easy; I already know all the inflections in Mike's voice."_

A thrill welled in his chest as the phone rang again, but he made no attempt to grab it. It rung a third time and he still found his hand stuck over the phone.

"…  _I can't do it. What would I get from ruining this for Mike? He would never trust me again."_

The phone went silent and Marionette continued to stare down at it. The familiar coldness settled in his chest as he eyed the phone warily; probably Louise calling for another date. She seemed clingy already and, while Marionette didn't have any room to talk, he saw it as a bad sign of what was to come. She could very well drive over and start banging on the door now, Marionette begrudgingly realized. In an instant this worry was suppressed by the sound of the phone ringing again. This time, Marionette answered without a hitch.

However, Marionette talked himself out of the false-Mike scheme immediately. He instead answered with his normal tone, "Hello?"

"Is Mike Schmidt there?" an older woman asked over the line. She didn't sound like she could be the girl Mike had been taking out, as she seemed a touch older than expected. "Who is this?"

"His roommate. May I ask whose calling?" Marionette heard the footsteps and looked back to Mike who entered the kitchen and leaned against the wall. There was this look in his eyes, this sort of suspicious look, maybe a little tense, and the puppet was glad he was on the phone as it looked like the look one would get before questioning. He felt meek under his gaze; he couldn't tell if it was from his recent revelations or if it was Mike's look itself.

"It's his aunt. Is he there? We really need to talk," the woman clarified.

Marionette was lightly surprised, "His aunt?" Mike's reaction was immediate; wide eyes and a vigorous waving of his hand to signal that he 'wasn't there'. Situation or not, Marionette found a touch of amusement and briefly let a smirk pass before it dropped. "I'm sorry, but he's not here right now. He just forgot his phone."

"Oh… Well, when he gets back, tell him to call me. It's important," the woman finished and after a few farewells they ended the call.

"Should I even ask?" Marionette graced Mike with the gift of a response. However, his tone returned to its distanced one, and he set the cell phone down on the table.

"I don't even know how she got my number," Mike admitted, clearly flustered. "She must have got it from my grandparents. I really hope they didn't give her my address or I am so screwed." The security guard really did look concerned about this. As much as Marionette wanted to ask, wanted to learn, wanted to do something, he still found himself resisting. He couldn't help but still feel cheated by the whole situation.

"So… I was thinking we could maybe talk a little. We haven't sat down and talked for a while," Mike randomly suggested. His shock reverted to the suspicious look. Marionette hid his own alarm as he mentally panicked, wondering if Jeremy had called and told Mike something. He soon realized that, if this was the case, Mike probably wouldn't be acting this calm about it.

The puppet regained his compositor "I'm a bit busy at the moment. Maybe if you're still home this evening," Marionette remarked, trying not to sound too bitter. He moved to go around Mike, between him and the counter, but was blocked by him.

"You're not just going to walk away this time. We need to talk," Mike firmly announced, not prepared to back down for even a moment. "You've been dodging me for days, and you weren't even here when I got home last night."

"I was at Jeremy's," Marionette quickly and briefly explained.

"Really?" Mike didn't seem to believe him. "Since when did you two get chummy?"

"Mike, you can't really expect me to just sit around and wait for you to decide to come back," Marionette quipped back. For a moment, he felt like he had some sort of power in the situation, and he wasn't going to simply back down. "It would be hypocritical for you to go out and then refuse to let me go out as well." He then added in, a little less out of his control, "It's not as though I have anything to do here."

Mike looked less than impressed and continued blocking Marionette, who started to drift out of the way. "Come on, Mari. I'm not letting you leave until we discuss this like adults."

Marionette got a brief look of amusement before suddenly vanishing. Mike knew he could've done it, but hadn't expected him to do so, and grumbled in discontent.

"And he claims he's not a kid anymore…" Mike called back into the house as he glanced around the room. He eventually assumed that Marionette had retreated to his room. Once again, the puppet was shutting him out. Though at least they had gotten in a few more words before the animatronic had split. Along with those words, he had managed to give Mike a lead on actual answers, and he grabbed his phone before heading outside. He got into his car, almost more as an act of defiance than to not be heard, and quickly dialed Jeremy's number.

"Hello? Mike?" Jeremy's voice sounded immediately questioning. It was almost as though he had expected the call.

"Yeah, it's me, Jere. How's it going?" Mike exhaled and let his voice drop back down into weariness. His annoyance had stayed back in the house; the exhaustion was much more appropriate.

"Great! Foxy's finally clean," he explained. Jeremy had gotten stuck staying in the pizzeria after closing to clean cake off Foxy's suit once again. This wasn't too unusual, but this meant that he got it off quicker than usual. "I'm going to stick around for a while, though. Foxy wants to rearrange some of the furniture and I rather watch him do it than walk in tomorrow and see it done."

"That's probably for the best," Mike quickly responded before shifting topics. "Marionette said he was with you last night."

"You're talking again?" Jeremy sounded surprised, but also relieved. It was almost as though he was emotionally invested in this. Mike only had more evidence that he knew more about the situation and was prepared to wrestle it out of him. Thankfully, Jeremy was a lot more docile than Marionette; he would be able to talk him into a corner.

"Not exactly. I know he was over there and he's still playing games with me, so I was thinking of skipping the game of cat and mouse and going straight to you," Mike explained. He leaned back against the car seat. "So, what's he been telling you?" The other didn't respond immediately. "Come on, Jeremy. I know for a fact that he told you something."

Jeremy didn't want to say what he knew. Not just because Marionette had trusted him, and it wasn't his place to say, but because Foxy was within hearing distance. If he said something too particular, Foxy was very likely to get involved. As though things between him, Mike, and Marionette couldn't get any more tense. Jeremy wanted to avoid any sort of immediate disaster.

"Uh… He said a couple of things… He was upset, you know? You're both upset about this, which is why you two should be talking about this." Jeremy tried to distance himself from the situation.

"I already tried that. Marionette is still acting like a two-year-old throwing a temper tantrum," as Mike said this he noticed the blinds moving in the window. The puppet was looking out at him and he responded by rolling his eyes and averting his gaze. "I don't have time to play thirty questions. By then he'll have already driven me insane."

"Look, Mike-."

"Is this about Louise?" Mike demanded as he looked back to the window. Marionette was still watching. "Is this whole thing because I went out a couple of nights? He didn't have this problem before."

"I don't know, Mike, I think-… Okay, I sort of know, but I think this is more of a- I don't exactly think that one thing alone started this, but I can't-," Jeremy cut off with a huff of frustration. "Mike, Mari came over here last night and broke down in front of me. I mean, he doesn't let me see his face change and he still completely lost it. Right in my bedroom." He himself was still surprised by the whole event.

Yet Mike's reaction was the immediate opposite. That familiar vice settled in his chest. "He was crying?" Of course, he had to be crying. This just had to go from a bothersome situation to a serious one, and Mike considered any time when Marionette was distraught to be serious. He hadn't even known and he hadn't been here for him. Had something happened, such as a nightmare, and Mike's lack of attendance led to the puppet's change of demeanor towards him? It made enough sense and it explained why he would be upset about Louise.

Jeremy gave a quiet, "Yeah," and the conversation went quiet again. Mike couldn't tell what was worse; that Marionette was more upset than he let on or that Jeremy had witnessed it and he had not. They were intimate moments; Mike considered himself the rare one who got to see it, the one close enough to the puppet that he could see his 'strings'. Now Jeremy had witnessed it too… But it was neither Marionette nor Jeremy's doing that led to it. It was Mike's absence that led to whatever was going on.

For a single night, Jeremy filled Mike's role of a confidant and a protector, and Mike  _hated_ it.

"…I'm going to try again," Mike abruptly announced. "I'm going to try to get him to talk again. We've got to work this out."

"I think that's a good idea," Jeremy agreed. Then he could be heard sighing. "While you do that, I have to convincingly lie to Foxy. I think he's listening in." Indeed, the fox animatronic was now staring him down from across the room. He waved to him, "Almost done, Captain!"

"Don't get in over your head," Mike finished with the warning. " _Lord knows I'm about to."_ He looked to the window. It seemed that Marionette had now vanished from the window and, possibly, knew what he was asking Jeremy about. Yet now the situation had changed.

Bitter Marionette giving the cold shoulder was something that Mike didn't know how to deal with. Crying Marionette, distraught Marionette, was something that Mike had seen before. He decided to change his tactic immediately because this was a different situation. He approached the front door and headed inside.

He didn't care what he had to do; he wasn't going to be replaced this quickly.


	47. Chapter 47

Mike didn't immediately find Marionette, so he headed straight back to his bedroom and tried the door. It wasn't locked, but the handle felt stuck.

"Mari?" Mike called into the room to no response. "Marionette, we need to talk." He tried the doorknob. It turned but the door itself refused to move. He realized quickly that it was being telekinetically held. With a light huff, he struggled in pushing the door open. It wasn't until he got his hand in the door that the telekinesis withdrew and the door abruptly slammed open. Thankfully, Mike managed to stay standing. Marionette was clearly tucked in his box and Mike crossed to it without hesitation.

"Come on, Mari, don't hide from me." Still, the animatronic said nothing. After a few seconds, Mike began tapping on the side of the box, softly whistling to the tune of 'Pop Goes the Weasel'. He was moderately surprised when the animatronic resisted the sound of the tune. "All around the Mulberry bush,~" Mike started to fit his finds under the flap. "The monkey chased the weasel,~" he continued as the flaps tried to stay stuck. "The monkey decided to lock himself in a cardboard box,~" he edited as he finally got one of the flaps to raise, now hearing discontent static from inside the box.

"Don't make me drag you out here," Mike threatened lightly as he tapped on the edge of the box. He could see Marionette partially under the layer of plush toys that he had collected. "Let's not do this, okay? Not anymore. It's time for us to actually talk."

"What did Jeremy say to you?" Marionette's voice was both demanding and equally filled with dread. He refused to come out of the box still.

"Not much," Mike admitted as he reached inside and felt around the box. "But enough to get me worried. I'm not letting this go on any longer." He got ahold of one of Marionette's wrists.

"Mike…" Marionette's voice held a dangerously warning tone.

"How long have we been together? I think that's too long to ruin this because we suddenly can't talk." He grasped the other striped wrist and started to tug him out of the box. "Just tell me what's going on. No matter what happens I won't be upset. I promise," Mike insisted as he started to raise the puppet out of the box. Marionette lightly tugged back, but was almost defenseless as he was brought out. So, he raised the rest of the way and looked at Mike with a face of discontent.

"I know you're upset with me and I sort of get it. I've been distracted, I haven't been home, and if something happened then I wasn't here to help," Mike listed out in hopes that the animatronic would cave and tell him what's wrong. "But I need you to tell me what's happening. I don't want to hear it second hand from Jeremy."

"So, Jeremy did tell you," Marionette accused as he tried to pull his hands back. His voice was flat, his face was unreadable, and he was still resisting. Mike tightened his grip, not wanting to let him slip away.

"Jeremy didn't have to tell me anything. I see it on your face," Mike stated. Marionette stared blankly at him. "To clarify, your stripes are purple again. Talking or not, I'm not that unobservant."

"It's only because you think I need you to paint them," Marionette remarked, starting to look away. "Which I don't. If I needed to paint my face that badly I could easily do it myself."

Normally, Mike would've given in and stopped his attempts. Yet he couldn't. He instead tried harder and had a feeling of how he could break through. "I'm also observant enough to notice the timeline here. You've been acting like this since I've been going out with Louise." Marionette flinched just a slight bit. This was his confirmation. "Mari, Louise isn't going to get in between us. That sort of thing isn't ever going to happen… But I get why you could be worried. This whole thing was pretty sudden."

"Anyone who you've become this attached to so quickly has the possibility of getting between us," Marionette clarified, letting his guard drop. "How long until you're ready to make her a permanent fixture? It starts with us letting her into our home, but then she becomes the barrier between us, she becomes your everything, and then I leave to spare myself witnessing the display." Mike was staring at him dumbstruck. "We pretend like nothing could come between us, but when the choice comes we know what you would choose."

"Mari, are you completely insane?" Mike directly asked with a continuing look of shock. "A 'permanent fixture'? I like Louise, but I don't like her that much." He released one of Marionette's wrists as he got a look of amusement. "We were just having a little fun. I'm not planning on marrying anyone. I'm not even officially dating her." He noticed the relief that passed Marionette's face and his amusement, and smile, dropped. "That's what you were really worrying over?" The puppet didn't answer him right away so Mike continued.

"If this is all over Louise… Then I can just stop seeing her. She's a nice girl, but she's not worth losing our friendship over," Mike admitted. He was hoping it didn't come to this, as he didn't necessarily want to hurt Louise, but he was willing to do it.

"…You would really do that?" Marionette meekly inquired as he raised his head.

"Course. In the long run, it's pretty small compared to the stuff we've dealt with. It's just not worth it," Mike explained with a more confident smile. He reached out and patted the striped male's shoulder, then squeezed it comfortingly.

"…Mike…" Marionette felt washed over with guilt. "Mike, I'm so sorry. I… I've been very selfish these past few days. I've been treating you unfairly." He looked towards the floor once again, "I've coerced you into this. I don't want you to stop seeing Louise just because you're afraid I'll stay upset. I can… Learn to live with your decision."

"You haven't been selfish," Mike insisted. "You were just a little ticked off. I wasn't exactly on my best behavior either. Could've handled this better." He noticed how Marionette was starting to hunch over, eyeing the floor further, unwilling to look him in the eyes. "Don't start feeling bad about this, Mari." Mike leaned down a little more before reaching forwards and lifting his chin with his hand. "Look, we've got the night ourselves. Let's make up for lost time. I've missed us spending time together, alright?"

"I'm in love with you."

The sentence sort of just hovered in the room for a couple of moments. Mike didn't really move and Marionette refused to raise his head any further. Those words just sat there.

"…What?" Mike couldn't help but be direct. That had been so sudden. It didn't sink in right away.

Marionette slowly raised his head to look at him. He looked melancholic and the limpness still lingered in his motions. "I'm in love with you, Mike. That is why I have been like this. Louise was only a small part of it." He tightened his fists and tried to level his unsteady voice. "I just couldn't deal with the fact that I wanted something I could never have."

Mike was still staring at the puppet, almost blankly, still trying to register the new information. It then hit him all at once and he inhaled. "…Are you sure?"

"I may have not loved before, but I know what this is…" He drew his arms back, turned away, and grasped the edge of his box. "And I know it's not new. I just didn't realize what it was until I reacted to you and Louise. It was so easy to think that I was just fond of you, to think that we were just close, but it couldn't be so innocent."

"So how- how long?" Mike's voice wavered when he didn't want it to. It was a reflex caused by the sudden adrenaline shooting through his body. "How long do you think it's been?"

"Afton's at least," Marionette admitted with no uncertainty. "That moment that I almost lost you. That moment I realized that you were injured. I will never forget that moment; I blame it for changing everything, because nothing was ever the same after that." He tried to keep his voice even as he felt Mike's pulse pick up. He could feel his physical reactions; he was alarmed, but he couldn't tell if he was afraid or not, or angry or not. "I knew how wonderful it felt being together with you, but I didn't realize how weak I was becoming."

The silence that followed was so unbearable that Marionette reluctantly continued. "At some point, I started to truly believe that you were mine and mine alone. That I was the only one to be this close to you… This is where the problem came in, because eventually you would look for someone you could love, and I… I can't give you that." He tightened his grip as an out of tune noise sounded from his chest. It was filled with despair. "That is why the last few days have been so hard… I just couldn't come to terms with this."

Mike was entirely baffled by the admittance. At first, he believed that Marionette was misreading his feelings, or that this was just clinginess that he believed to be love, but with every word Marionette painted a legitimate picture of his own infatuation with the night guard. This being, this dangerous but tender being, this fabric and porcelain being that was capable of such human emotions, this thing that could love and hate had chosen to somehow love him. He shouldn't have been surprised, as he was so affectionate, but it felt sudden.

It suddenly made much more sense in the context of the situation. Especially with all they had done together; the face painting, the dancing, had all only coaxed the puppet on further. Mike had been oblivious to what he was doing, even when he knew he was crossing the line. He had gotten himself into a tight spot.

…And yet Mike couldn't help but feel something positive towards this. Letting himself acknowledge his real feelings for a moment; Mike couldn't help but feel good about the reveal. After worrying that Marionette was shutting him out, he had learned that it was quite the latter. He wasn't being replaced, Marionette didn't suddenly hate him, and instead he had granted him something of a gift. Marionette barely trusted anyone and yet he felt so strongly for the human. Nobody had ever cared that much.

Mike realized he needed to say something as Marionette's mood continued to plummet. The Puppet added in, "I didn't want to ruin what we had."

Spurred on, Mike started to move forward and took Marionette's shoulder, trying to turn him around. "Look at me."

"I don't want to," Marionette admitted and, even as he turned, he tried to shield his face to the side. "This is so embarrassing."

"…This is embarrassing? I'd say me falling through the floor and nearly killing myself was way worse." Mike started to try and work the humor in. He could do this; he could act normal and comfort the puppet. He could push aside his own feelings and deal with the matter at hand. "Just… Look at me, okay?"

"I can see you without looking directly at you," Marionette insisted. He then followed by covering his face with his hands. "Oh Mike, what have I done?" He expected to hear one of two things. The least likely, by Mike's joking nature, was him to be furious and disgusted. The more likely was him letting the animatronic down easy. That almost felt worse than this. "I ruined it all, didn't I? I couldn't be happy with what we had."

"Stop doing that," Mike broke in before he could continue. "I don't know what you thought I was going to do, but-… Here, just-." He knew words weren't going to come easy. Instead, Mike pulled him in closer and wrapped his arms around him, embracing the puppet close. This seemed like the right thing to do; it really looked like Marionette needed this comfort for a moment. He could reasonably do that.

Apparently, Marionette needed it too, because he eagerly hugged back to the human's body, wearily giving into the temptation of comfort. He pressed his porcelain face into the crook of Mike's neck and attempted to hide from the world in the pitiful motion.

"You know what I learned in Afton's?" Mike asked his companion. "That you were secretly a badass who wasn't afraid to take on an entire group of animatronics to save me. If you wouldn't have done that, wouldn't have turned against your own, I would've died down there. But I should've expected it after you protected me from Chipper's house of horror and dry-rot the rabbit." There was a light joke, but he was being serious. "And yet you're still here when I get home; waiting to appease me, when you aren't pissed."

He drew back a small bit, but just enough so that he could look down at Marionette. "Mari- Marion, nothing you could ever do would 'ruin' us. I can live with you… feeling this; I just don't want to lose you. I don't want to have you pull away." It felt so weird to say, but Mike meant it. He even felt a shiver of thrill at the continued confirmation that the puppet loved him. Being loved felt unimaginably good. It also helped that Marionette began to lightly chime and thrill against him, nuzzling into his shoulder and hugging him tighter.

Because even though Marionette knew better, he couldn't help but relish in the affection. He didn't want to make Mike uncomfortable, but he was simply so relieved that he wanted to keep living with him. He chirped further in an unspecified tune as Mike continued to pat his back.

"I was so afraid that you were going to want to stay away from me!" Marionette admitted with a delighted chuckle. "Mike, I want nothing more than to go back to how we were. I don't want to change us for this, no matter how I feel. I am happy enough being beside you." He slowly unwound himself and pulled back, keeping his hands on the security guard's arms. "…I would've never told Goldie anything like this. I know that doesn't seem significant, but it is. It very much is." Just because they couldn't be together didn't mean that Marionette would reject this gift. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. This is what we do," Mike pointed out. It was as that moment, however, that everything suddenly changed. It was as though Mike caught his second wind of emotions and it hit him head on again.

He was standing here with a dangerous animatronic in his grasp, one that may have murdered multiple security guards in the past, one that only gave the illusion of being human through menial tasks, and it was in love with him. This puppet, or puppeteer if he really considered it, had attacked him on their first meeting. He could still remember it now; Marionette was almost entirely unpredictable, and yet he had learned his pattern. Mike had a feeling of slipping; not from panic, but from something much worse.

"I think we could use a night together! If you're still offering, that is," Marionette suggested with his smile returning. He sounded so happy and so willing to just accept that Mike would continue being friends. He knew Mike too well, but he was seemingly unaware about Mike's 'react first, respond later' policy. Mike reacted instantly to calm Marionette without letting it get complicated. Now, standing there in the room, alone with the animatronic, it suddenly got complicated. "Mike?"

How many times had he heard Marionette call his name? In Afton's, at the pizzeria, attentively searching and questioning. He had always been close to him, watching him, observing and learning about Mike along the way. He had let his guard down to the puppet and now he could feel the results of his actions creeping into the back of his mind. "…Are you sure you're fine with this? I promise I won't let this get in the way." Yet it already had.

"Marion…" Mike exhaled slowly and rested his hands on his upper arms, feeling over the soft fabric. He didn't know where this was going, but he had a bad feeling that he had no choice in the direction. Marionette responded with confusion at Mike's continued efforts to call him by his other name. Mike look to him and waited for something, and Marionette's default smile eventually fell to a slightly more worried one. He was the only one who was going to see this. Then his resolve finally dropped in one abrupt moment. Then again, Mike seldom thought things all the way through.

He didn't expect porcelain to grow so warm when pressed against his lips.

Just the same, he didn't expect Marionette to go almost completely limp at the action, save his clinging arms. His legs had completely buckled, but Mike was more than willing to hold him. He didn't know whether this was to spare the Puppet a descent to the floor or to keep them together. By now they were both too lost to whatever had happened to them. Lost to the change.

There was no going back.

* * *

When Mike woke, he wasn't gifted with a period of amnesia. He awoke remembering exactly what he had done. He wondered if he was permanently stained; as though Marionette's red paint had gotten on his lips. He then realized that his shoes were still on and, uncomfortable, he slid them off and kicked them off the end of the bed. It wasn't too hard, being that he was currently laying on the remarkably small bed located in Marionette's room. The puppet was curled beside him and facing out into the room while Mike was against the wall.

The lamp was still on, but Mike couldn't tell what time it was. He remembered the kissing, the holding, the eventual moving to the bed, and eventually falling asleep. He looked over towards the puppet and wondered if he was asleep or just laying there beside him. Either way, just staring at the back of his head caused heat and confusion to spread through him.

" _What have I done?"_

Technically, he cheated on Louise. Technically, he botched the friendship that he and Marionette were trying to salvage. Technically, he did exactly what Fritz liked to hint towards. He had completely submitted to a sudden rush of desire, but damn him if it didn't feel great while doing it. How long had this been inside him? How long had he been gripped by this insane urge to randomly yank Marionette into his arms and kiss him, of all things? It wasn't new. It was suddenly overwhelming, but it absolutely wasn't a new thing. It was too intense; it had to have been lingering and he didn't notice it.

Though it made enough sense. Pretending that he didn't care strongly about Marionette would be a complete lie, to both him and the puppet. Even now he felt remarkably close to him in both an emotional and literal sense. Noticing that Marionette was a little too quiet, he turned to face him and laid a hand on his arm. "Hey…" Marionette turned his head a slight bit, but said nothing. "You want to go watch something on TV and pretend like we didn't massively complicate our already confused relationship?"

Marionette responded with a small nod and slipped out of bed. It was something, at least. Mike followed him out of the room and into the hallway. Only now did he catch sight of his face, which Marionette seemed to be hiding. He had expected to see the puppet in turmoil or confusion, but instead was completely struck wrong. Instead, Marionette was beaming uncontrollably, with an absolutely delighted look on his face. The only reason he was hiding it was possibly out of embarrassment, but he looked overjoyed.

It changed the mood entirely. Mike thought the silence and such would lead onto a dismal note, but the puppet looked happy. Regardless of how awkward this all was. Still quiet, they entered the living room where Mike sat on the couch. It was only ten o'clock, but this meant they had slept a couple of hours. He didn't know how he would handle getting back to sleep later, but deemed it the least of his worries at the moment. He watched as Marionette knelt, his legs folded underneath him, and went to turn the VCR on.

Marionette didn't seem to frequently use his legs; whether it was for walking or while ruthlessly throwing himself at a fellow animatronic. Or, at least, he never seemed to directly walk on them and instead used his levitation to get around. Just thinking of how easily he got them to buckle sent a quiver of excitement through him. Mike had a feeling that he had only opened the floodgates on this inward eagerness. Suddenly he was paying much more attention to Marionette's movements, focusing in more on his behavior, and… And to be honest, it almost frightened him.

Because suddenly it was all too easy. That kiss had unintentionally changed everything. Or was it Marionette's confession? The puppet moved onto the other side of the couch. There was a good amount of distance between them, which Mike noticed right away and agreed was probably the best idea. Yet this didn't stop Mike's blue eyes from locking onto him. He was blatantly staring and knew the puppet could probably feel it, but by now he had already laid his thoughts on the line. His poker face dissolved the second he put his lips onto his companion's.

The TV droned out the show, but everything felt abnormally quiet in the room. They had to say something eventually, but Mike had opened the door to ignoring it a little longer. It seemed like the best idea at the time. After all, what was he supposed to say? He had no idea how to start explaining why he did what he did. Except, maybe, that it felt good to do it. He sighed and looked towards the television, then almost immediately found him stuck by absurdity.

"…When did Freddy start skateboarding?" Mike asked with almost exasperation on his voice. It gave away his lack of attention, but this was unbelievable.

"It's their way of getting away from the Dark Emperor," Marionette explained before slowly looking over. His face was still painted in mirth. "And they aren't skateboards. They're hydraulic fueled speed boards." He took too much pleasure out of this.

Mike sent him a look of both complete confusion, complete dumbstruck, and eventually submission. "Okay," he caved, trying to ignore the TV at this point. "…I'm starting to think you were right about this season." Marionette's head snapped to look at him. "I mean, when have you personally ever seen Freddy ride around on a skateboard? It's just- And there's Foxy. It's just getting worse." Marionette chimed in amusement at the comment and, for a moment, everything felt normal. It was short lived when Mike looked back to the TV.

It was at that moment that Marionette suddenly started to move in closer. By time Mike's eyes glanced back, Marionette was halfway across the couch, slowly sliding closer. Though he froze completely still once the human looked at him. Just as still as he would fall in the gaze of a stranger; he was caught in the act of something that Mike couldn't possibly not notice. Yet he looked expectantly towards the human.

Mike understood how confused Marionette was. He admitted that he loved him and Mike had followed suit by outright kissing him. More than likely, Mike had given him an unintentionally reassurance that he felt the same. It should've been now, when the puppet was creeping closer, that he explained that things got out of control. Now he needed to tell Marionette that they wouldn't work out, but he wanted to stay friends. That they could still have what they had before.

Instead, Mike submitted to his continued lack of willpower. He reached out towards Marionette and carefully put an arm around him. Marionette trembled at his touch and his face started to, for lack of a better term, flicker through emotions. Mike felt his smile grow as he tugged him in closer, effectively pulling them together. He kept his arm draped around the puppet's back and felt the animatronic relax against him. His mind felt so numb to the concerns of it all. For a moment, feeling Marionette rest against his shoulder, it was all okay.

" _Just tonight,"_ Mike reasoned with himself.  _"Enjoy it tonight. Tomorrow, in the light of day, everything will work itself out. Everything will go back to the status quo."_ He honestly did believe that. Things would be awkward, they would go to work, they would come home, and eventually it would return to normal. This was such a welcome relief after Marionette's cold shoulder that Mike was willing to continue. Even if it was wrong, and it was wrong. He was an  _animatronic._

Mike used to jokingly imagine the people who were attracted to the animatronics. He never met them, but he always imagined the rare human who lusted over Foxy or Bonnie. He always thought of how depraved someone had to be to feel anything romantic towards an animatronic. Especially, and this was only from his knowledge, one that could possibly kill you. They had to be pretty pitiful, he assumed. Yet here he was.

He wasn't going to admit to any sort of romantic emotions. Not just yet, not even to himself; this was mostly just because he was affection deprived. Yet just the fact that he had done what he had tonight suddenly made him the pitiful one. After all, none of those people with crushes physically touched the animatronics. Nobody ever pulled Foxy into a kiss, especially not one that lasted so long. Just the thought sent a new wave of panic through him; his heartbeat started to race, his lungs began to burn, and his head started to feel heavy.

" _Not now,"_ Mike tried to will himself out of what was nearly turning into a panic attack. It was so close to turning this already strange situation into a disaster.  _"Breathe. This isn't anything to panic about. It's just Mari."_ Though the looming threat sunk further in.  _"I could've just screwed everything up. This could screw everything up."_ He looked down at Marionette, wondering if he could hear his heartbeat. Most likely he could but, hopefully, he took it as- Never mind. Him taking it as nervousness would be just as damning.

Marionette soon decided to show that he did notice it by reaching down and squeezing Mike's hand to comfort him. Maybe he didn't know the full extent, but he recognized something was wrong. Then, closer and clearer than the bizarre display on TV, he began to gently hum. He couldn't recognize the song, but it was a soothing lull, and a comforting relief to a suddenly overwhelmed mind. His heart started to slow, his breathing became less heavy, and slowly the vice along his body started to ease. The panic was receding just enough to become comfortable.

He pretended that he was watching Freddy slide around on a skateboard- as though that was the more respectable action- and studied their conjoined hands. Black, slender fingers were intertwined in his own. They weren't human, they weren't even made of flesh, but he was so entranced by staring at them. As though he was suddenly looking at the Puppet's hand for the first time. As though he had completely forgotten how interested he had been in him when they first met. He had wondered how everything worked and wanted to see how it all clicked.

That interest had returned at the most inopportune of times. While he knew how most everything worked, Mike wanted to seek out more. He wanted to scour Marionette for every significant and elsewise detail.

This time the thoughts were relaxing, so he welcomed them.

* * *

Ironically enough, Marionette did not ask to spend the night with Mike. Perhaps he had gotten enough time earlier, stuck on his twin sized bed, but he didn't address it. Instead, he had only asked the security guard to wind his box. Now, being the next morning, Mike had no idea what it was going to be like. It was one thing to be late at night, when the mind was foggy and inhibitions were tugged with puppet crosses, but addressing it during the day was just going to be odd. Still, he stepped into the kitchen with no hesitance.

Marionette was in the process of icing a cake at the dining room table. Usually he didn't wait this long to finish the pastries for the day, but it made more sense today above all others. A flat of cooling cupcakes rested on the oven, not yet iced, and Mike slowly wandered over before going to pluck one out. His silence was halted when he accidently brushed the searing metal of the pan; he had no idea that they had just been brought out. He hissed and shook out his hand as Marionette turned to face him.

"I told you to stop doing that," Marionette scolded lightly as he moved in. "I just pulled those out." Mike made another grab for the cupcake; this time more hesitant. "Again? You're so impatient! My goodness!" He raised the cupcake out of the pan with his telekinesis. "There. Now stop trying to burn yourself."

"I'll do anything to get a free cupcake. This is just one tactic," Mike responded with a playful smirk as he snatched the cupcake and walked over to sit down at the table. The mood had eased immediately, especially as he saw the male cross his arms in a sort of pout. No awkwardness this morning; it was as though it all went back to normal.

"Your aunt called again this morning. You really should call her back," Marionette quipped matter-of-factly as he began to ice the cake once again. Mike winced at the comment and averted his eyes.

"Yeah…" He ate at the cupcake to avoiding having to explain more. The puppet looked to him in concern.

"You never mentioned your aunt before. I'm assuming you two aren't close?" his question sounded natural, but he was clearly exhibiting protectiveness and worry. After all, this was the first time that Mike had acted so peculiar towards a family member.

"We… Used to be. It's not her, it's just what she's going to want once we get on the phone. She's going to start asking questions and talk about me visiting- I'm not close with my family, except my Grandparents. You know about this. I already told you about me taking off and all of that," Mike waved off quickly. Though Marionette pause of a reaction made him second guess this. "I know I mentioned it."

"But we haven't talked about it," Marionette pointed out. Though this made him even more unsure of whether or not he told the Puppet about the scenario.

"What's there to talk about? I left home, I came here, I worked at Freddy's, I met you. That's basically everything important," Mike pointed out in a further attempt to drop the subject. "I would've called her, but she just wants me to go back home… That's not even my home anymore.  _This_ is my home. I shouldn't be required to go back just to make them feel better." He managed to stop himself before he broke into a rant of some kind. Marionette was staring. "…What? Don't say you agree."

"Your buttons are a little off," Marionette randomly added in. Mike looked down and, as predicted, they were off. Though they weren't just a 'little' off. Somehow, they were all buttoned to the hole beneath the current one, leaving everything lopsided on his jacket, and he hadn't noticed.

He stared before shrugging, "I'll fix it before I leave." He returned to the cupcake.

"I'll keep telling her that you aren't here, but eventually she will stop believing me," Marionette spoke as he continued work on the cake. "I actually had a dream about her last night, oddly enough! Though halfway through she turned into Ennard and you wanted to buy a skateboard. I have no idea why my mind turns dreams into this madness." There was a light amusement on his voice. He sounded so carefree and happy, and Mike loved hearing it. If he wasn't physically floating, Mike could've compared his behavior also to 'floating'.

It brought a smile to his face. Marionette had him again distracted from the frustrations of his life. He even had shrugged off the concerns from the night before. He and the Puppet already were back to normal, better than normal. Though that was when he stood to finish getting ready.

"Oh, let me help you!" Marionette volunteered as he set the spatula down and approached the man. He began to quickly address his buttons, undoing them all and beginning to redo them into the correct pattern. He softly hummed, almost as he had the night before to calm Mike down.

"I could handle it, you know," Mike pointed out. He wasn't going to stop Marionette, but he was inwardly hoping that the striped male would stop on his own. That way they continue the normal morning at the same, normal pace.

"I know you're more than capable of buttoning, Mike," Marionette sarcastically taunted back. "But it's quicker this way…" There was a pause hanging off the end of the sentence. Mike quipped a brow, Marionette edged closer to the top, and then he quietly added in. "It gives me a moment to be close to you before we get to work." There was no innocent playfulness. There was no suggestive, but obviously just friendly annotation in his voice. No, that was a direct carry on from last night. Completely honest and completely direct.

Mike could feel the quicksand already. There was no getting out of last night, unless he directly confronted Marionette about his true intentions.

"About last night…" Mike began, hoping the words would come to him. Though they didn't. He wasn't sure what to lead with next. They were supposed to discuss last night and fix everything, but he found himself unable to figure out what to say. He was at least a little reluctant to just jump in and say last night was a mistake, because it absolutely wasn't. Kissing Marionette had been completely willing on his part. Yet that left him with no clue on where to go from here.

"Try not to stay too distracted, alright?" Mike felt the playful smile easily slip into place. It felt so much easier just to keep like this. He caught Marionette's hand in his own before it could pull away from the top button. Though Marionette had left it lingering there anyway. "Maybe later we'll figure this out, but we've got a job to do."

"I understand," Marionette agreed. Though Mike didn't know if the Puppet had any idea what the internal back and forth was doing inside his mind. He chimed too happily; looking downwards in a more shy than sad fashion. Marionette was willing to set aside this bizarre shift in relationship so that they could work.

" _Because he knows we're coming home together,"_ Mike had his own words come back to him. He didn't know how unintentionally suggestive he was at the time, but what he did know was now, at this moment, the knowledge that he would only have to answer to Marionette tonight was a relief. It was their home; everyone outside of it could wait until Mike got his story straight.

He had a bad feeling that he wasn't going to be able to clear his mind like his Puppet could, but maybe a few hours of mind numbing work could help him remember what it was like when he could think rationally. Rational Mike would've told Marionette it was a random thing, that logically it could go no further than that, and that their friendship would have to suffice.

But Irrational Mike, the Mike from last night, was already trying to think of a way to let Louise off easy. He took this as a bad sign.


	48. Chapter 48

Today was not a good day for things to be awkward. Not with the growing swarm of children that had decided to come into the pizzeria.

This was possibly a good sign, signaling that Foxy's had finally managed to get a foothold in society. Finally, profit would be high enough to add more necessities to the business. Though this was the last thing on Mike's mind as he kept an eye on the dining room. Both Foxy and Marionette had to be out and tending to children, but Marionette also had to continuously return to the Prize Corner.

More kids than ever needed to exchange their tickets for prizes, which somewhat forced the Puppet back into his box. Mike lingered outside of the prize area and watched him exchange toys and merchandise. He couldn't help but smile a little as he watched, feeling a sort of pride in how easily the animatronic did a job that a human might struggle with. He certainly was born to do this; it was good to know that his talent with children wasn't being wasted. He was free to do what he wanted and he chose to do this. He wasn't forced to perform by programming.

Marionette wasn't just a mindless animatronic. He was a living, existing being with thoughts, feelings, and dreams. He was just as capable of sentience as a human. Mike found himself focusing in on this, trying to force himself to acknowledge this. Of course, he already had, but the recent events had made him seek reassurance. It didn't stop him from lingering in the doorframe and keeping an eye on the animatronic. That was, until Fritz eventually did his rounds and stopped by Mike's post.

"Can you take over the kitchen for a couple of minutes?" He sounded like he needed a break and, slightly reluctantly, Mike agreed.

"Sure. Just keep an eye on the kids, okay? Natalie's got her hands full over in the arcade," Mike pointed out. "A couple of kids were trying to shove coins into the machines." Fritz briefly got a look of alarm before looking in that direction.

"That's a disaster waiting to happen. I'll take care of it," Fritz reassured. Mike wasn't sure how he intended to fix something like that and wasn't exactly willing to ask. Instead he gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Good luck," he quipped and then headed to the kitchen. Fritz headed off to assist Natalie, who was now having to physically go through the children's tokens before they used them, to make sure they didn't sneak any coins in. Mike stepped into the kitchen and was immediately hit by the heat wafting from the oven. It was uncomfortably stuffy and he unbuttoned his jacket. "Where am I needed?"

"Slice this? I can't get this thing to work." Jeremy stepped out of the way and handed him a pizza roller, then went to the fridge to take out a couple of cups of ice cream. "We're running out of chocolate."

"They're not going to care. Just start handing out the vanilla and don't stick around long enough to hear complaints," Mike suggested as he easily sliced through the pizza. "First thing we're getting with all this cash is a chef. We can't keep going on like this."

"I know. Even with the premade dough, we just can't cook these fast enough. Someone's always going to have to be in here," Jeremy agreed as he splayed out a few, colorful paper plates on the counter. "And someone's usually me. I'm not complaining, but I… I could be doing more than cooking." He then looked to his fellow security guard and studied his face. "…So, uh."

"So?" Mike questioned back, keeping his eyes on his work. It wasn't exactly difficult work, but he wanted to be as efficient as possible.

"So… How's things with Mari? Any better?" Jeremy asked in concern. Mike's reaction was immediate; he slowed his motions and suddenly was staring blankly at the counter. How was he supposed to answer that? It was as though, suddenly, Mike was unable to think of a good excuse of any kind. His mind all but blacked out as he desperately tried to cover himself.

"…Yeah, you know, it'll take time. We talked things through," Mike eventually forced out and continued working. "It's better. We've worked it out."

"That's good…" Jeremy spoke with clear hesitation in his voice. He obviously suspected something; he would have to be completely ignorant not to notice Mike's odd response time. The latter looked to the older male with his own questioning. "He was- He was pretty upset. The Magician and Daisy were really worried about it. I was worried about it… Did he… Did he say anything?"

Mike hoped that Jeremy only was guessing one side of the situation. He was fine with him thinking that Mike was stunned by Marionette's confession, but he couldn't figure out anything else. He couldn't know about anything that happened last night. It suddenly dawned on him that he never told Marionette not to tell anyone. It was very possible that Foxy could find out, which could in turn lead to a lot of excessive difficulty. Suddenly he knew that he would have to get into the Prize Corner and have a 'talk' before anyone 'happened' to find out.

"…You're spacing out," Jeremy pointed out.

"It's the pizza fumes," Mike excused as he started nudging the pizza plates closer. "Mind taking these out?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Jeremy agreed and started to place the plates on the serving tray before heading out. Mike was relieved to get out of the conversation, but knew it wouldn't be long before it came back. Jeremy shortly returned to get more pizza slices, then ice cream, and Mike kept himself busy in the kitchen. It didn't distract him too well, but it somewhat kept him from being out in the open. Eventually Jeremy came in and began to start on a new pizza while Mike pulled out a cake to prepare for a coming party.

It was then when Fritz poked his head in. "Hey, there's a lady out here calling on you, Mike," he forewarned. Naturally, Mike assumed that he was being coy and it was Louise, and he inwardly cringed.

"Yeah, I'm on it." Mike headed to the door and stepped out. As soon as he was gone, and Fritz took his place to set the candles, Jeremy looked to him.

"Do you notice Mike is a little-?"

The door burst back open and Mike scrambled back inside, closing it behind him. Both of his coworkers looked over at his frantic entrance.

"What the hell was that?" Fritz asked with a quipped brow as Mike removed his hat and combed his hair with his fingers.

"My aunt's out there. How did she even find the place?" Mike couldn't help but feel cornered. The second he stepped out and noticed the woman he was struck nearly dead. She was just as he remembered; studious, put together, and scouring the pizzeria with a hawk-like gaze. Somehow, she figured out that he was here, and now was here to find him. "Which of you told her I was here?"

"I just did, but I never saw this woman before," Fritz explained as he wandered to the door and peered out. Surprisingly, the woman didn't notice Mike, even though he flailed his way back into the kitchen. "Do you usually act this kooky around your aunt?"

" _Yes_ ," Mike bluntly stated, "and it'll only get worse if we don't get her out of here before she finds me out." He looked over the two before looking directly at Jeremy. "Jere, go out there and say that I already left." Jeremy looked doubtful of this plan. The door started to open and Mike got a briefly exasperated look, thinking that she was letting herself in, only to see Natalie instead.

"We're going to need that cake. The birthday boy's mother is going to have to leave fifteen minutes early," Natalie announced to the group. Fritz took the liberty of finishing and lighting the candles.

"I've got it covered. I'll be right out there," he explained and Natalie smiled back.

"I'll flag down Foxy," she finished and stepped back out of the kitchen. Fritz hurried out after her and the door shut behind him. This left Mike and Jeremy alone in the kitchen.

"I should've expected this," Mike grimaced. "She's been calling me on and off for the last few days, so I should've known she wouldn't give up. Is it too much to ask to not have to deal with family?" Mike asked theoretically as he looked to the other guard. "Someone eventually has to get the hint."

"Oh, come on. You can't hate your aunt that much," Jeremy protested. "I'd give a lot to have my family still interested in my life."

"Bad blood?" Mike questioned in a loose, but interested way. He didn't want to pry, but he didn't really want to brush off the comment either. In all actuality, Mike didn't know Jeremy nearly as well as he knew Fritz. He knew him on a personality level and knew his quirks, but other than his alleged rap sheet, Mike knew nothing about what led Jeremy on the path to Freddy's.

"Not… Not really… It's more of a loss of touch thing," he admitted. Though Jeremy wasn't very sure that his own words were fully truthful.

"I've been trying to lose touch for years, and they're still dogging me," Mike continued to vent with a sigh. "…You don't have to be stuck in the kitchen. I'll be staying back here for a while."

"Really? Thanks. I could use a change of scene," Jeremy smiled as he attempted to return to his previously upbeat tone. He headed to the door. "If I see her, I won't tell her you're back here."

"Thanks." Then Mike was left alone. He hated being stuck in the back room, but he didn't have much of a choice. Reluctantly, he began to continue on kitchen duty.

Out in the dining hall, things were going much better for Marionette. The entire day was going perfectly, though he was possibly biased by a good mood. The events of the day before had certainly left the Puppet smiling, an actual smile and not just his normal fair. It was also wonderful to have the pizzeria overflowing with patrons. Even with the numerous adults, the many happy children were more than enough to make him feel fulfilled. There was little down time; he had to constantly keep moving and tending to the children.

Mike had vanished into the back somewhere, but he didn't have the time to check in on him. He assumed it was all fine. Besides, he agreed to not let it distract his work, and that included keeping track of Mike's location. He moved closer to Foxy as the animatronic moved away from the birthday party he was just at. Some of the children just got ice cream and he was not planning to stand in firing range. This seemed like a good time to briefly reconnect; hopefully quiet enough that the kids couldn't hear.

Though this wasn't just to talk. By now, Marionette suddenly had a bold idea, and he wondered if Foxy would be interested in it as much as he was. It would, in fact, be a big step. He moved as close as he could without tugging at his strings and the track awkwardly. "Foxy?" Foxy looked to him and leaned in so that he could hear him better. Marionette was quick with his decision, murmuring near Foxy's audio receptors and hoping for a reaction. Foxy's reaction was immediate.

Foxy gave him a pat on the back, which briefly sent him swinging, and turned to the stage. He quickly climbed on and strode past the curtain. The Puppet moved closer and watched the curtain, hoping that they wouldn't be interrupted before they could do this. Foxy returned with a tape deck dangling off his hook and a tape in the other. He crouched down and flashed the title scribbled on the tape. "Ya got this one?" Marionette nodded eagerly. "You sure about this? Yer pretty quiet around the kids, Marion." The striped one nodded again.

The captain fiddled to set the tape deck down and get the tape in it. This involved a little frustration that eventually was resolved with Marionette daring to reach out and hold the tape deck. It was closed and the play button was pressed. Before the music could even begin, Foxy got to his feet, standing on the stage to draw attention. Marionette rode his track back to the other side of the room, standing near the entrance to his Prize Corner. Foxy drew the room to attention.

" _Boys and girls, it's time for the show!~"_ Foxy wasn't rusty in the slightest. He immediately broke into song and the children started to look over. " _When ya want fun you know where to go.~"_ He couldn't remember the last time he heard Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica singing this song, but he remembered the words by heart. Foxy remembered every verse and every pause. " _We've been waiting a while and it's time to start. Don't need to know the words; just sing from the heart! Welcome all and come on in, the party of a lifetime's about to begin!~"_

Foxy briefly locked eyes with Marionette. He wanted to make sure he was going to keep along. After all, while the captain was fine with singing with an audience, Marionette had never sung in front of an audience before now. " _We'll have some fun and yer gonna see how great it can be,~"_ Foxy promised to the children, and perhaps partially to his younger sibling.  _"So… Let's eat!~"_

As the song kicked in, Marionette joined his brother. Foxy's was still the more dominant of the two, but he was audible. " _Let's eat! Oh, let's eat! Come on down, settle down for a treat!~"_ they called in together over the pizzeria. _"There'll be no more strife with our little slice of life!~"_ Foxy prepared to hand over the reins.  _"So, let's eat, oh, let's eat!~"_ Foxy fell silent and gave a wave of his hook to signal Marionette to take over. Normally, it would be Freddy handing over the reins to Chica, but he was confident that none of these children knew about that.

" _We've been waiting day and night for today,~"_ Marionette began, quickly spinning underneath his strings. Foxy broke in with a quick,  _"That's right!"_

" _Life's not fit for all work and no play,~"_ the Puppet paused as Foxy again chimed in. _"You heard 'em!"_

" _So, join us for some fun and when the day is done,~"_ it was then that Marionette realized how easy it going. It was so easy to sing to the children, and it felt good to let them hear his voice.  _"I promise, you'll be wishing you could stay!"_

Mike had been in the state of sulking in the kitchen when the music had suddenly begun. Hearing Foxy, he sort of smirked to himself in amusement, but it was then that Marionette took over. His head snapped upwards from his work on the next pizza. This was a surprising change; Marionette had never sung in the pizzeria before this moment. He almost immediately headed to the door, but paused in place as he remembered that his aunt would surly see him. His cover would be blown…

" _So, let's eat! Oh, let's eat!~"_ But this was the one time that he needed to be out there. Considering that the last time Marionette sung to a group it involved destroying multiple animatronics.  _"Come on down, settle down for a treat!~"_ If he was going to be supportive, then he needed to be out there. In fact, he wanted to be out there. He wanted to watch his puppet perform. Because, in all actuality, he truly was his now.

" _Settle down with us, now!~"_ Foxy called out before the two animatronic began to sing together once again. _"There'll be no more strife with our little slice of life! So, let's eat, oh, let's eat!"_

At this moment, Foxy randomly started to sing the 'Pirate Song', or tune, as though they were pausing for a musical number. This was usually when Bonnie's guitar solo would come in, but for now they needed to improvise. Marionette, quite overexcited, decided to stitch in his own words.

" _We have no time to wait and sigh. No patience to wait 'til by and by.~"_ Marionette felt Mike in the room. He couldn't tell when was the moment that Mike had stepped through the door to start watching him, but he suddenly could feel him amongst the numerous children. His words slipped a bit too easily.  _"Kiss me quick, I'm off, goodbye! But for tonight-.~"_

" _Let's eat, yes, come on, let's eat!~"_ Foxy and Marionette then returned to their song again.

Foxy gave a brief call of, "Sing with us!"

Marionette added in with, "All together, my friends!"

" _Come on down, settle down for a treat! There'll be no more strife with our little slice of life! So, let's eat, oh, let's eat!~"_ And then one final, " _Let's eat!~"_

Most of the children clapped, and the ones who didn't were either smiling, jumping around, or saying positive things. The parents clapped, the staff members clapped, Mike clapped; Marionette felt only more exhilarated. Risking his reliance on the strings being questioned, he let his legs touch the ground and allowed himself to sweep down in a brief bow. Foxy was much less formal and instead waved to the children.

Mike didn't know why he felt proud over something so simple. Marionette had shared his voice and, while Mike no longer could say that he only sung for him, he was glad to hear this more open performance. Not to mention that it was a good performance. While Foxy wasn't necessarily the best singer in the world, Marionette's voice was brilliantly tuned. He sounded like he was made to sing and it was wasted on Freddy's, where he had once been stuck out of the way.

It was at that moment that Mike admitted that he may have been biased.

Looking over, he could see his aunt had noticed him and was waving to him. As firm as she had been in the messages, she looked so happy to see him, and he decided to smother the instant ill feeling that gripped his insides. He knew he couldn't run this time. With a sigh, Mike crossed the dining room and passed behind Marionette. He briefly reached upwards to pat his back and gave a quick, "Your strings are twisted." The smirk was evident and Marionette responded with a happy chime. This was soon drowned out by the children that started to approach.

Soon Mike was at the small table where his aunt sat alone. He sat down across from her, "Aunt Lees, I didn't expect to see you. I heard you called." If Lisa knew he was avoiding her, she wasn't showing it now. She just smiled and watched him sit down.

"Dad told me where you worked. I'm just so proud of you! You  _own_ this pizzeria?" His grandfather obviously said more than he thought; he didn't even remember saying that much to him about where he worked. Something about this all seemed a little fake, so he assumed that she was purposefully saying what she thought would keep him open and flattered. It made sense, so he decided to not call it out while not getting too comfortable. He could just imagine what she really thought about him working here.

"It's a three-way ownership, but yeah, basically. We opened it together." Mike aimed the conversation away from himself, "So how's life been?"

"It's been very good! The family has all been well, but they've been asking about you. It's been so long since anyone's seen or heard from you…" Her tone shifted and a frown started to slip through. "We didn't expect you to just disappear."

"Things happen, but I turned out alright," Mike shrugged off. "I did better than I would've done stuck at home. The mood was starting to kill me."

"But we were all worried," Lisa assured. "You mother was distraught after we couldn't find you."

"I hope she didn't drive that night," Mike said with a slightly more apathetic tone. Though he followed by falling right into the trap. "How's she been?"

"She's been wonderful! She turned her entire life around! Here, I have her number…" Lisa dug into her purse as Mike warily watched her. At that moment, something brushed his back, and he looked back to see Marionette. The Puppet boldly rested his hand on the human's shoulder, seemingly recognizing the woman's voice. He pulled his hand away just as she straightened.

"I wrote down everyone's numbers," Lisa said as she handed over a slip of paper covered in phone numbers. "Maybe you could call of couple of them tonight?" She then noticed the animatronic now behind her nephew. Taking this as a sign, Marionette turned away and started to the Prize Corner to tend to the children who were waiting inside.

"Let's stop playing games, Aunt Lees. I know why you're here." Suddenly Mike's boldness returned once again. He got his nerve and decided to stand his ground. "I don't want to talk with her and I'm not going to be boxed into corner." He glanced away, looking at the children circling around Foxy and running around the tables. "So, if she appears at my house, I'm 'not going to be there'." He added in the quotation gesture, inadvertently admitting that he had been purposefully missing her calls, but she seemed to ignore this.

"Michael, she really has gotten back on track. She went back to work, she started going to therapy; she only wants to talk to you and show that she's changed. She's the reason I'm here," Lisa reassured.

"Really? Then why isn't she here?" Mike quipped back, almost smugly.

"Because she knew you wouldn't be," Lisa flatly answered.

This left Mike briefly without words.  _"…Damn, she still knows me."_ He gave a slow exhale and, again, averted his eyes. "I'll think about it, okay? I'm not making promises." He hoped that it was enough to get his aunt to drop the subject. He then glanced to the Prize Corner, noticing the kids starting to leave. He started to stand, "I'll be right back." Thankfully, she let him go without a struggle, and he headed over to the door.

He waited until the last couple of children left before he approached Marionette. The Puppet was clearly excited to see him, if the brief shift on his face had anything to say about it.

"I knew you had it in you, but I never thought you'd actually go through with it," Mike led in with. Naturally, the other knew what he was referring to. "How in the hell have we not put you on stage yet?"

"The strings, Mike. I wouldn't be able to continue my illusion on the stage, not when the track halts," Marionette explained in a rather humble fashion. His tone then shifted, "Unless I had a puppeteer."

"I don't know what you're suggesting, but I'm not dressing up in a weasel costume. That's beyond my capabilities," the security guard scoffed back. Though he promptly followed with a sincerer smile, moving closer to the box. "Seriously, though, that was perfect."

"Mike,~" Marionette turned away with a growing chime of delight on his voice and his hand resting on his cheek. "Your bias is showing."

"My bias is spot on," Mike reassured with a slight wink. Right afterwards, he second guessed this action.  _"Ah geez, he probably thinks I'm flirting."_ He attempted to recover somewhat. "You should be using your voice like this more often. I know I'd enjoy it." This was followed with an odd silence.  _"...I'll be damned, I am flirting,"_ Mike realized and was prepared to head back out of the Prize Corner. Though he then remembered what he was escaping from. Even though he genuinely wanted to congratulate him, Mike also wanted to flee from the stress his aunt had brought.

He glanced to the door, making sure nobody was coming, and then allowed himself to seek what he wanted. With a smile, he reached out towards the animatronic. Marionette, somewhat confused by the motion but willing, reached forwards to take Mike's hand. The motion was immediately sending warmth into his chest, right where he needed it. The stress was already starting to get lost amongst a new rush of emotions.

"You know that I only sing for you, Mike," Marionette spoke quieter and squeezed the hand holding his. "The children hearing was simply a perk." In a way, Mike hoped this exaggeration was partially true. He chuckled and traced his thumb over the black fabric.

"That's good to know. I was sort of worried that you were starting to serenade Jeremy when I wasn't looking," Mike playfully quipped back. Thankfully, Marionette would never know how true it was that jealousy had briefly emerged. At least Marionette was also guilty of this.

Though Marionette's features seemed to lose their luster for a moment. "How are you feeling?" Mike didn't need clarification; he knew that the Puppet was asking about him speaking with his aunt. He begrudgingly wondered if he was that obvious.

"I'm fine. If she thought she was going to guilt me into crawling back to them…" His hand tightened and he glared towards the door. "She has another thing coming." Marionette didn't ask questions, but Mike knew they were there. His mother was a sore spot that he hadn't been willing to discuss, but now there was no choice. "I'll tell you later. It's a long story." The Puppet rested his other hand atop Mike's, affectionately trapping it. It made Mike hyperaware that someone could walk in and see them, but he didn't move away.

"If you need to escape, you can come in here. There's children, yes, but I doubt your aunt will follow you in here," Marionette pointed out as he nodded towards the counter. "I could always use the company."

"I might take you up on that offer. First, I've got to try and see if I can her out of here. She's confiscated an entire table." He squeezed tighter in an attempt to not have to go. Subconsciously, he clung to some sort of escape. "And I should probably tell someone that I abandoned the kitchen."

"I could come with you," Marionette suggested. "She won't come near if she sees me." Apparently, he had confidence in his 'terrifying' appearance. Mike highly doubted that this illusion was as prevalent considering that he had just sung a duet with a pirate themed fox.

"Nah, I can handle her," Mike insisted further as he drew his hand back, only to move it back to gently pet over the stripes on his arm. He then headed to the doorway. "I'll be back in a few."

"You didn't answer my offer," Marionette pointed out. "It would give you something to do if you need to get away from everyone else… And I wouldn't have anyone else do it. You're the only one I would ever let tug my strings and live." The playfulness did not cover the truth in that comment. He wouldn't allow anyone else to control him, but he was willing to give the security guard a limited control. If only to get them closer together.

"Do you really want me sticking my hand in your back?... Don't answer that," Mike cut the question short. It was better if he simply didn't know the answer to that. "You're just not going to be happy until I'm carrying you around the pizzeria, are you?" he asked with a smirk. Marionette chimed in amusement, but gave no direct answer. Mike stepped out the door, "Don't get your strings in a tangle while I'm gone."

That playful mood died at the door. Once back in the fray, with an aunt and work waiting for him, Mike felt weariness settle over him. He forced himself forwards.

* * *

_He slammed the door shut behind him and angrily planted his hands on it. It was all he could do to not keep from slamming his fists into the door until he either drew blood or broke it down. There was no smothering this sensation, no quieting this anger, and for a moment he was entirely overwhelmed. With a huff, holding back words he wanted to say, Mike stumbled over to the sink and stared into the soft pink of his aunt's bathroom sink. There was nothing in it, but he still looked to the bottom as though it could eventually give him answers._

_A curt knock came at the door. "Michael?" Mike resisted the urge to roll his eyes back. As though it couldn't get any worse._

" _I'm fine!" he called out, anger evident in his voice. "Just leave me alone." He didn't mean to be so aggressive to his aunt. Maybe she knew this, as she proceeded to leave him alone, heading into a different room. This left Mike alone again. He didn't want comfort, he didn't need his family, he just needed a minute to process this._

_She had said no. He hadn't thought that she would say no._

_His hands tightened on the sink and he pushed back. Well, that was it. That was the last straw. He had been waiting all this time and it ended in failure, so he knew what he was going to do. He had the money, he had the car, and all he needed was to get out of here and get back home. Mike stormed out of the bathroom with a call of, "I'm heading out."_

_Lisa immediately darted around the corner, but Mike had already turned to head to the front door. "Wait, Mike, please, it's not over just yet."_

" _Oh, it's over. She said her peace; there is no problem._ _ **We're**_ _exaggerating," he sarcastically recited as his mother had. "I'm not sticking around. She can do what she wants."_

" _At least let me drive you," Lisa offered. Considering that he drove them to her house, this made the most sense, but Mike was blinded by his distraught._

" _I can walk. Just let me go," Mike nearly snapped back as he took outside and jogged down the driveway. Once on the sidewalk, he began the moderate walk to the home he shared with his mother. Anger was a terrible fuel at a time like this, and with every step he concocted and scowled further. He would be free of this once and for all._

_He slipped into his bedroom window, deciding not to even try crossing through the front door or risk having to look at what the house had become. He flipped on the lamp on his desk and looked around at the room. Didn't she care that, if it wasn't for family, they wouldn't have electricity? She couldn't just say yes as a reward for them stocking their fridge? It seemed ungrateful, like a slap in the face, and even more so that she would just waltz back into the house like nothing happened and begin the cycle again._

_Mike wouldn't sit through another year of this. He couldn't, but she wasn't planning on taking their offer… Unless someone gave her a real ultimatum. Their threats of not paying for basic commodities did nothing except, maybe, make his life more uncomfortable. She didn't care whether the lights were on or whether there were groceries, but there was one thing that Mike could do that perhaps would change her mind. If he was out of the equation entirely, maybe it would convince her._

_He couldn't just threaten to leave and he couldn't just go stay would family. He would have to flat out take off and stay gone for at least a month, far enough where cops or family members couldn't find him. Then, once he was sure she had steeped in his absence long enough, he would return and give her the option to agree. She would be more than willing and if she wasn't then he would leave again. It made perfect sense._

_In a short amount of time, Mike packed a few bags, grabbed the money that he had stashed away, and headed back to his car. He didn't know where he was going, but he already knew of the nearby shelters in the city and knew that, somehow, he would figure out something that would work. This was only a temporary thing, but he had already been alone this long; it was time for him to set out. He could already imagine her reaction; she would finally show some sort of concern for his wellbeing. She would agree to the ultimatum._

_Mike had no doubt that after this his mother would agree to go to rehab. What he didn't foresee was that he wouldn't be coming back, or that it would be by his own choice. Everything was about to change._


	49. Chapter 49

He hated doing this, but he had to. His last job for the night, his last duty, and at least it wouldn't be as painful as talking to his aunt. With a somber resolve, he pushed open the door and stepped into the diner. At least Marionette agreed to stay in the car; he didn't tell him what he was coming for, but the Puppet had been pliable. If he had known that kissing him would render him completely agreeable, he would've possibly considered it beforehand. Clearing his mind, Mike approached a booth and sat down to wait.

It wasn't too long before Louise noticed him and approached with a warm smile. "If you're coming to spy, there's no point. The food's not that good," she playfully introduced with a slight giggle on her tongue.

Mike smiled back and tried not to let his strain go through. "It's not good at the pizzeria either. I'll take what I can get," he retorted before nudging a paper menu around on the table. "Think you could get a minute so we can talk?"

"Sure thing! I'll be right back," Louise spoke before heading back to the kitchen to call inside. Mike couldn't help but be nervous about what was going to happen. Regardless of his decision with Marionette, he couldn't lead Louise on when he was so confused. It wouldn't be fair to her. As she sat down, perky and smiling as usual, he felt guilty. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I've had fun going out the last few times and I think you're great. Especially considering how weird it was that we met in the middle of the night," Mike was trying to sound light, but suspicion was on her face. "I'd like to keep meeting up if you want… But I'm just…" He tensed and cleared his voice. "I'm sort of not looking for a, you know, a romantic thing."

She did look surprised and a little disappointed. "Oh… I sort of thought you were. I thought these were dates."

"Yeah, I did too. This is pretty sudden… And it's nothing you did. It's me," Mike felt desperate and Louise suddenly got a quirk of her brow, as though she didn't buy the 'it's not you, it's me' line. He had to do something, to say something quickly, because he needed something to break the uncomfortableness nagging at him. Then, before he could even think, the only possible excuse slipped out. "I'm having a sexuality crisis."

Louise reacted with the return of the surprise and Mike immediately regretted letting that slip. Especially when sexuality was the least of his problems when involving his confusion about Marionette. Though blaming it on that was much easier than blaming it on the much more logical 'attraction to sock monkey' answer. "Oh…" Louise quietly murmured and Mike, again, tried to scramble.

"But I didn't just start spending time with you to test my sexuality or anything. It wasn't that. You really are great to be around, so I though, hey, let's hang out and see what happens… But it's obvious that I'm still too torn with this. It's not fair to string you along," Mike explained to the girl. "But I still want to be friends."

"Uh… Oh yeah, sure!" Louise got her smile back. Suddenly her tone changed. "No, it- You can't help something like that, right?" Mike didn't know if he was imagining it or not, but she suddenly seemed a little more amused. It was like she was fighting a smile. "I'd rather know now instead of later, right? It's… I guess I'm just relieved that I didn't just show you a bad date or something."

"I had fun the whole way," Mike admitted with a smile.

"Yeah, me too. It was a good run while it lasted," Louise agreed. "You're not the first guy I jumped into a relationship with, but you're the first one who didn't either break my heart or who I dumped… But I'd still like to be friends, and if you'd ever feel comfortable going out for drinks or something, I'd love to go." Mike had a feeling that him suggesting he batted for the other team way probably why Louise still offered this. Though Mike honestly wasn't attracted to men… Marionette was an exception, but he was the exception to a lot of things.

"I think I can manage that," Mike agreed with a smile.

"And, hey, now that we're not about to become a thing," Louise began with a playful smile, "maybe I could ask about getting a job without expecting some sort of biased. It's about time I get out of the diner business." It was a joke, obviously, but the security guard played along with it.

"If you know anyone who can cook, we could really use someone in the kitchen who knows what they're doing." Best case scenario, they could get a new employee and he didn't have to feel so much like garbage for what he was doing.

She stood from her side of the table. "Well, it was fun while it lasted. I'll see you around, Mike," she finished. Then, for a split second, he saw the hurt in her eyes, past her faux carefree smile. It was there; she was more upset than she let on. Though she turned away and started back to the counter before he could properly react. Feeling too uncomfortable to stay, Mike stood from his seat and headed to the front door.

Back in the car, he gave a slow exhale and pulled out of the parking lot. Still covered, Marionette spoke from the backseat. "What happened?" He was curious, but didn't sound suspicious. That didn't mean he wasn't.

"Not much… We'll talk about it when we get home," Mike insisted. His voice was filled with guilt and the confusion that came with such an awkward situation. Marionette wasn't sure how to read such behavior and felt some concern. Regardless, he stayed silent until they arrived home and were safely inside.

Mike was obviously tired from the day. Between his aunt, the trip to the diner, and the erratic night before, there was no doubt that the human was stressed. It made the Puppet second guess if this was the appropriate time to ask questions and prod for answers. Especially since he didn't know what Mike had said to Louise or how he felt now. Marionette watched as Mike filled himself a glass of water before lingering at the sink. He contemplated saying something, but his voice was useless.

"…We're going to have to talk about last night eventually," Mike randomly threw out into the open. He slightly looked back, but didn't turn full around. As though the glass of water was that much of a distraction. "We had an excuse earlier. If we're going to do this then we should do it sooner than later." Yet he still didn't face the animatronic.

"I agree," Marionette responded as he directed his gaze to the kitchen's wooden floor. "What happened in the diner?"

"I had to talk to Louise. With all of this, I couldn't just lead her on. I broke things off," Mike explained, starting to finally face him.

"You didn't have to do that," Marionette reminded. However, he inwardly wouldn't deny the solace that came from hearing it. It didn't guarantee that this conversation would go in his favor, but it took off one weight that had been looming over him. "I could point out the obvious, but I don't think I have to."

"No, I think you should enlighten me," Mike suggested with a mostly interested tone. He leaned back on the counter. "What do you think about this whole thing?" He waited for an answer and Marionette almost shrugged back in response.

"As much I enjoyed last night, as much as I want  _you_ for myself, I know that it cannot happen," Marionette gave a low tuning noise. "Let's be honest, will we? We can't do this. It's… Unnatural." Then came a forced chime of fake amusement. "I love you, Mike, but I'm not human anymore. While I will always hold last night with me, I am fortunate to get that… So, you still have my blessing to do whatever you wish. What do you want out of life, Mike?" He honestly wanted to know. He wanted to know exactly what Mike was thinking.

This led to a silent moment. Marionette watched Mike; Mike looked from him, to the table, to virtually anywhere else in the room, and finally spoke.

"If it's my choice…" Mike drew out and still considered it for a moment. Then he decided on it with a shrug, "Let's just go for it."

"…Go for what?" Marionette asked in return. He was obviously concerned.

"Us. Let's just roll with it," Mike suggested. "There's obviously something here that we can't ignore and I'm not attached."

" _What?"_ Surprise was one of Marionette's more rare expressions, but Mike still got a kick out of seeing that carefully controlled mask drop compositor so quickly. "No, Mike. You can't be thinking-."

"Last night's not going away. That thing's going to be sitting between us if we do or if we don't," Mike pointed out with slight amusement. "So let's skip the part where we pretend that we can pretend that we have an option to avoid this. We can skip all ignorance and just go ahead with this. It'll save us a lot of unneeded frustration."

"Mike, I don't think you're thinking this through," Marionette stated a bit more firmly. He sounded almost frustrated at the suggestion, as though he didn't want his hopes being raised. "I know that I was not thinking about the consequences last night. All I could think of was my immediate emotions, but it just can't- it can't happen." He began to move a bit closer as though to clarify his case. "Look at me as a human being, Mike. You may not fear me, but you have to admit that- that this is against nature." His voice continued breaking throughout his explanation.

"I didn't hear you complaining last night," Mike quickly quipped back with a smirk.

Marionette glared back and static shifted into his voice. "Damn it, Mike! You're not helping!" He moved in, abruptly smacking his hand onto the male's chest. He tightened his grip into the fabric of his jacket. If he thought that this was going to stop Mike, then he was immediately proved wrong by Mike's complete lack of concern and growing entertainment.

In a smooth motion, Mike quickly slipped his arms around the other's narrow frame and pulled him tighter against him. Marionette responded with a fussy burst of static and tried to squirm out of his grasp, though not struggling very much. "This is serious," Marionette reminded firmly.

"I can tell. What if the kiddies heard their favorite sock monkey dropping words like that?" Mike retorted with a chuckle. "And this is quite a performance, considering how you were acting earlier. Trust me, you weren't that opposed to the idea then." The annoyance was visible, but he noticed that Marionette didn't deny his claim. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"Someone could see us," Marionette pointed out. "Jeremy knows. I know that Jeremy knows. So if he sees you acting oddly, he'll know something happened."

"I'll just tell him it's family issues," Mike shrugged off. "I'm having them anyway. They'll work as an excuse."

"And you're not considering what future you're looking forward to with me," Marionette pointed out. His frustration slipped and his voice grew softer. He averted his eyes; Mike could tell. "Say this did work out, us being together, I could never give you a family. Don't you want children?"

"No," Mike simply responded. Marionette looked with unimpressed disbelief. "Trust me, working at Freddy's and Foxy's turned me off kids. If it's not a have to situation then I'm fine with just not having them," Mike shrugged off, pulling Marionette a little tighter. It felt good to know that he was able to hold him as tightly as he wanted without any repercussions. "Mari, if you were human we'd still not be having kids."

Yet convincing Marionette was still easier said than done. He made an another pitiful attempt to push back before giving in. With a small sigh, he leaned in, wrapping his arms around the human's shoulders and hiding himself against his neck. "You shouldn't tempt me, Mike…"

Mike reached upwards to pet over the back of his head and down his back. He gave his own sigh and it was ironically also one of giving in. He wasn't sure what happened to his logic, but he wasn't seeking it back out. He didn't even understand why he wanted to fight for this so badly. Marionette was giving him a very blatant out and arguing a very good case for him, though he couldn't exactly take him too seriously. Not with how adorable he looked in his mini-tantrum. Not with how warm he felt tucked in his arms.

"You're the one always going on about me tugging your strings," Mike retorted with playfulness. Though it then returned to a slightly more serious, though clearly gentle tone. "Don't think about the extra details, okay?" Mike coaxed as he held him tighter. "If I didn't know what I was asking for, I wouldn't be asking for it." Marionette gave a joyful chime and pressed further against him. His resolve was starting to slip as well and Mike couldn't help but relish it.

He finally started to pull Marionette back. Surprisingly, the Puppet allowed himself to be nudged back without becoming too clingy. He was smiling again, but it was less of a 'default' smile and a more honest one, smaller and more shy. Mike took his cheek into his hand and traced over his mask, over his purple branding, with his thumb. He received another welcomed chime and Marionette further responded by mimicking his motion. He hesitantly touched Mike's skin, dragging his fingers back before brushing his dark hair. There were no longer restraints.

For a moment, Mike briefly wondered if it was truly worth it. If giving into this when he was still uncertain about his own feelings was a smart move. Then Marionette slipped in closer and pressed porcelain back against his lips. There were absolutely no regrets.

* * *

_Marionette approached Golden Freddy from behind. The bear continued down a hallway into the dark shadows at the end._

" _Goldie, you won't believe what happened! Mike and I are together! I've never been so happy!" His smile was beaming and his tone was light._

_Golden Freddy turned a corner and went down a flight of steps. Then he continued down a hallway into the dark shadows at the end._

" _He's not like the others either. I know you don't trust them, but Mike treats me like a human! Security guard or not, he is everything I want!" Marionette continued to gush giddily._

_Golden Freddy turned a corner and went down a flight of steps. Then he continued down a hallway into the dark shadows at the end._

" _I really think you two would be good friends. You two aren't too similar, but I know you would like him. He's a good worker," Marionette continued, trying to persuade him._

_Golden Freddy turned a corner and went down a flight of steps. Then he continued down a hallway into the dark shadows at the end._

" _I know you're not exactly thrilled, but I love him. I know he will take care of me. I know he won't hurt me," Marionette pleaded further after his friend._

_Golden Freddy turned a corner and went down a flight of steps. Then he continued down a hallway into the dark shadows at the end._

" _What did you think, Goldie? That I would stay alone forever? That I would never be able to fall in love?" Marionette questioned, his smile long gone._

_Golden Freddy turned a corner and went down a flight of steps. Then he continued down a hallway into the dark shadows at the end._

" _Please don't be angry with me. I can't help that I love him and you don't even know him…" Marionette felt the tears starting to drip out._

_Golden Freddy turned a corner and went down a flight of steps. Then he continued down a hallway into the dark shadows at the end._

" _I'm sorry… I know what you said, I know you told me not to trust the night guards, but you don't understand," Marionette was now weeping._

_Golden Freddy turned a corner and went down a flight of steps. Then he continued down a hallway into the dark shadows at the end._

" _And what right do you have to control my life…? You… You lied to me! Or withhold the truth- You never told me about my father!" Marionette angrily blurted out._

_Golden Freddy turned a corner and went down a flight of steps. Then he continued down a hallway into the dark shadows at the end._

" _And here you are again, blaming me, answering nothing! Am I supposed to forget again?! How many times do I 'forget' when you hurt me?!" Marionette yelled after the bear._

_Golden Freddy turned a corner and went down a flight of steps. Then he continued down a hallway into the dark shadows at the end._

" _Stop walking away from me and tell me the truth! Was Foxy right?! Were you just using me?!" Marionette demanded, refusing to continue the cycle._

_Golden Freddy turned a corner and went down a flight of steps. He then approached a familiar door and stepped through. Marionette didn't remember where he had seen it before, but wasn't anticipating what he was going to see. Golden Freddy was gone and instead… A pair of green, illuminated eyes were staring back._

_It had been a trick. Had Goldie been there at all, or was it always just her?_

" _You can't forget me forever, Brother."_

* * *

Mike was awoken out of a light sleep from the sound of a nearby door closing. After a few groggy moments, he assumed that Marionette had decided to leave his room. He had escorted him to his room before he came to bed and had wound his box, so it was somewhat odd that he was awake again. Marionette had not asked to sleep with him and he was moderately surprised that the Puppet didn't appear in the master bedroom. That being said, he wasn't too concerned about it, so he tried to return to sleep.

Unfortunately, his body had other plans. It was somewhat expected, considering the events of today, but he hated it. His mind would go to this new situation and ease. Then it would go to his family, his mother, and he would rouse again. Mike tiredly rolled over and started to get out of bed. This wasn't working; he wasn't going to sleep like this. Surprisingly awake, he stood from his bed and approached the door. He stepped out into the hallway and caught sight of a light on in the living room. He raised a quizzical brow and headed towards the living room.

It wasn't that Marionette was awake that confused Mike. It was that Marionette was awake when Mike had escorted him to his room before he had gone to bed. The Puppet's music box didn't usually last all night, but it was still rather confusing that he was already back out in the living room. He was currently folded onto the opposite side of the couch, tucked close to the lamp that was turned on, and was reading a book. His head perked as Mike leaned against the back of the couch.

"What are you doing awake?" Mike asked curiously as he glanced down at the book. Marionette closed it to focus his attention fully on the security guard, turning his body to face him fully.

"I could ask you the same!" Marionette chirped, not fully responding to the question. He gestured to the other side of the couch. "Sit down with me?" Mike nodded in agreement and stepped around the couch before sitting down across from his companion.

"I love how this always happens when I've got work in the morning," Mike pointed out as he tiredly laid back against the couch. "I'm going to love dealing with hundreds of kids while I'm half asleep. This is why we're not having kids." Marionette chimed in amusement and set his book on the armrest. He eagerly slid beside the human and put an arm around him, pressing into his shoulder. Mike slipped his arm around his back. "So really, what are you doing awake? You don't usually get the urge to read in the middle of the night."

"…I had an unsettling dream. I thought if I was awake for a bit, it would keep me from returning to it," Marionette admitted. He didn't want to be honest, but he felt his voice slip and the words come out without his full control. He continued to nuzzle against the human, eagerly seeking his comfort from the man.

"You could've come got me," Mike pointed out. "It's not like I was sleeping." He gave an amused smile, but while the Puppet chimed, he didn't give any sort of answer to why he didn't do so. "Do you want to talk about it? It sometimes makes you feel better," Mike reminded as he turned his body. With his back facing the armrest more, he could pull Marionette against his chest further and hold him properly. It definitely felt more comfortable, especially with the fabric body being so soft and warm.

Marionette considered it for a moment. He stayed silent for a few seconds before finally daring to speak. "It was mostly about Goldie being upset with our relationship." He could tell that Mike was confused and clarified, "In the dream, he was upset that I got together with you and he… He wouldn't listen to me. He just was- He acted like he always does." Marionette slumped in defeat and let his eyes close, shutting out the world so that he could instead focus strictly on the comfort. "Goldie hated almost everyone who worked at the pizzeria."

"Considering the track record, I could see why," Mike slightly agreed and almost joked. Though it wasn't much of a joke considering that it was completely true. He wasn't too concerned with Marionette's dream; this was a big change so reflection and doubts were to be expected. Especially if Goldie had as much power over Marionette as Foxy suggested that he had. "He would've had a hell of a time trying to get rid of me."

Marionette wanted to defend Goldie. To say that Goldie would've understood eventually and that he thought Mike and Goldie would've been friends, but he couldn't. He knew Goldie to well to ever imagine that he would lower himself off his pedestal. He hated humans, he hated night guards, and he hated when Marionette was 'distracted'. So controlling, but also so overprotective, and at times so friendly to him alone. In fact, it wasn't his behavior towards the Puppet that was under scrutiny, it was his behavior towards everyone else and the decisions he made for his puppet.

"Mike…" But Marionette had been too steeped in his mourning to ever question Goldie. It was Foxy who had recently shaken this resolve. When Foxy had blatantly pointed out what Goldie was hiding from them, he had to start questioning the older being's motives. Goldie was willing to kill any security guard, whether or not he could tell if he was purple. Now Marionette didn't know if he was a victim to the sight of purple or the one who initiated it in the other animatronics. "I'm glad you're awake. I didn't want to wake you myself."

And that was ignoring the elephant in the room… Or the other animatronic in the dream,

"No problem," Mike responded with a light yawn. While he hadn't been able to sleep earlier, he did feel the effects of weariness start to set in. It was most likely from the new source of warmth curled against his chest. "Want to stay with me tonight? It's worked before," he suggested, petting over the back of his head. Marionette nodded again him and gave a purring warble at the suggestion. He moved back to allow the human to get up from the couch.

It wasn't until they arrived at the bedroom that Marionette began to grow shy again. He lingered by the doorway as Mike somewhat fixed the blankets on the bed. He then glanced back towards the striped animatronic. "Don't get uncomfortable on me now. This is the most tame thing we've done since last night," Mike pointed out teasingly. Coaxed forward, Marionette repeated the pleased noise from before and approached the bed.

Then in he stopped. "…Mike, about the nightmare… There was something else," Marionette admitted uncomfortably. Mike sat down on the edge of the bed with all his focus on the Puppet. "…Never mind! It's not important," Marionette abruptly recoiled from his confession.

"Are you sure?" Mike lightly pressed. Good things never came when Marionette stayed quiet about something bothering him. Most of the time he would find out about it later, once it was too late to do anything. "I'm still awake."

"It's nothing. I was just… Considering how different you and Goldie were," Marionette excused as he disappeared under the covers entirely.

"I'm assuming that you're not counting the obvious human to bear comparison," Mike quipped out as he turned off the light. Maybe he was overreacting; it seemed like everything was alright. Marionette hadn't been nearly as flustered after this nightmare as he had before, so perhaps he really was doing alright. As he laid down, Marionette slid beside him and eagerly wrapped his arms around him. Mike turned to face him and returned the gesture by throwing an arm over his slender frame.

The nightmare was over. That was the end of it.

* * *

But that wasn't the end of it, as Mike realized over the next few days.

For the last few days, Marionette behavior became much more affectionate, as Mike had expected. He was much more prone to loving gestures, such as embraces, and had stayed closer to the human. However, Mike had noticed that something was a little off as well. He became more sluggish in his motions and, when at work, he spent more time tucked in his Prize Corner. By day three, Marionette's behavior was extremely obvious, and Mike was growing increasingly more concerned. Though he wasn't the only one who noticed it.

This was the first day that anyone other than the Puppet was working in the Prize Corner. After noticing how bogged down he was, Natalie had stepped in and offered to stay behind the counter. It was Marionette agreeing to her help that was concerning Mike. There was no way that, under normal circumstances, Marionette would let anyone step in and take over his own job. He took too much pride and joy in his work to even consider letting someone else replace him. Yet he made no attempt to fight for his place.

Mike knew that Marionette wasn't sleeping. Though it was only now that he realized it. Now, at Foxy's, in the middle of work, Mike finally pieced together that Marionette was going through another cycle of 'nightmare followed by refusing sleep'. The Puppet had done this before as he remembered, but never had he gotten this tired. Mike could see it as he left the Prize Corner to accompany Foxy to the only birthday party of the day. He was moving slower than usual and his body looked just a bit more limp than typical.

As such, Mike caught Marionette's arm outside of the Prize Corner and stopped him before he could approach the table.

"Hey, you need to go back to your box," Mike firmly stated as he looked at the Puppet's face. His eyes looked surprisingly vacant. It was hard to explain it, but there was just a sort of lifelessness in them. "You're not up to performing for the kids. Foxy's got this covered."

"I'm fine," Marionette responded with a slightly slowed voice. There was an awkwardly long pause before he finished, "It's just one party. I should be there." Mike clearly disagreed with this line of thinking.

"Foxy's with the kids, Jeremy has the cake, Natalie has the Prize Corner; you need to return to your box." Mike's face softened a bit more. "Please, Mari. You're only hurting yourself." The Puppet looked away and rubbed his arm. The physical gesture gave away his inward shame. "I don't know what's going on," Mike began in a more gentle tone, "but this is out of control. You've never been like this." Quickly glancing to make sure that everyone was either distracted or too far away, he slid his hand down to take the fabric skinned one and gave a soft squeeze.

"…Fine," the animatronic caved, "but just let me attend the party first. I want to feel like I did something today." Mike was going to protest, but Marionette's face briefly flickered to a more pleading one. Unfortunately, their newfound 'relationship' was making him more pliable, and that look of begging was enough to pull his own strings.

"Fine, fine… But if you're over there for more than ten minutes, I'm coming to get you," Mike forewarned and released him, letting him go. Marionette slowly continued along his track to join Foxy at the birthday table. Jeremy was already there with the cake and the birthday song just began. Marionette took position beside Foxy and started to chime, but stopped when he noticed how delayed it was.

The fox teasingly leaned over and complimented it, "Aye, nothing like a birthday eulogy to get yer toes a tappin'." Marionette didn't even have the strength to retort beyond a quick jolt of static. It was high enough frequency that the humans could only barely detect it, but low enough that Foxy heard it and got the annoyed message. Then their focus returned to the cake as the birthday boy, who was smiling wide even though he was missing a front tooth, blew out the candles. Foxy did a partial clap and began to congratulate.

Then, without any provocation, weariness suddenly nudged in. Marionette started to feel much more exhausted and tried to limit what activities he could, as to keep from completely shutting down. Unfortunately, in this one moment, while watching Jeremy cutting cake, his focus faltered. With it went his telekinesis and in that brief hiccup, he plummeted to the floor.

Jeremy could only make a grasping motion with his free hand while choking out what sounded like, "Fox-! Fox-!" He assumed that he was calling for Foxy, who didn't notice the descent until the Puppet thumped to the ground. Thankfully he landed backwards, as he didn't know if he could've properly protected his face while falling down on his front. The sound of rapid footsteps moved in before he was being grabbed at. He was glad that Mike got to him before anyone else, but he couldn't help but feel extremely embarrassed.

"Just having some technical issues," Mike randomly excused to the kids, parents, and or whoever else was in the immediate area. Foxy started to lean down and help as Mike slipped his arms under Marionette's back and legs. The security guard stood, easily hefting the puppet in his arms and starting out. To somewhat further defend the situation, he called over to Fritz, "The track collapsed!" He hoped that this way people would assume that the track released his strings. As he started towards the back, Marionette weakly laid his hand on Mike.

It was so obvious that he was exhausted. Mike was somewhat ashamed that he hadn't stopped it sooner and guiltily squeezed the animatronic tighter. He decided to forgo the Prize Corner and take him into the office, but was interrupted along the way. Almost there, a young girl seemed to appear from nowhere with worry in her eyes.

"Is Mari going to be okay?" she asked in concern. Mike was only a little surprised that a child had caught on to calling the Puppet 'Mari'. Though looking close, Mike recognized the little girl, guessing that she was a frequent customer.

"Don't worry. Mari just needs a little rest while we fix his strings," Mike encouraged with a half-hearted smile. "He'll be back out before you know it."

The girl nodded, but still watched as they approached the office door. She waved, gave a call of 'goodbye', and then the door shut and left the two secluded. The office wasn't much of an office. It had a desk, a monitor for the security, a safe, and a couch shoved against the wall. Barely any of them were here in the office during the day, but this made it a prime location for Marionette to recover. He laid the striped animatronic down on the sofa and knelt beside it.

"So, I'm going to give you a choice. Do you need music or can you sleep on your own?" Mike inquired, verbally showing both his concern and his determination. The Puppet limply turned his head to look at the wall.

"I'm okay. I just need a few minutes, then I'll return to my box," Marionette promised. However, he was too weak to move his body more that the littlest bit, so this answer was not going to fly with Mike.

"You need actual sleep," Mike insisted as he looked over his form. He hated seeing him so weak, seeing him in such a poor state, and he couldn't help but feel his overprotectiveness growing. He gave an impatient huff before reconsidering what he was going to do. He reached over to pet his head, seemingly innocently. Marionette wasn't willing to push him away until humming accompanied the touches. Naturally, it had to be the one song that would make him further undone. Marionette reached upwards to stop Mike's hand.

"Stop," Marionette tried to sound commanding, but his voice was as worn out as the rest of his body. This didn't stop him from starting to sit up, trying to prove that he was ready to perform. "It was just a slip. There's no need to get so worked up." He leaned on his side on the back of the couch, trying to get his body to respond properly. He couldn't get enough focus to use his telekinesis and simply gave up in trying.

Mike stood and unbuttoned his jacket before draping it over Marionette's shoulders. The Puppet eagerly clung to the familiar fabric and Mike moved onto the couch in front of him. Marionette knew that Mike was going to press for an explanation, but he wasn't in any position to leave the room. With the jacket, the exhaustion, and Mike being so willing, Marionette abruptly gave in.

"It's her," Marionette blamed. "Every time I sleep, she's there, waiting for me."

Mike had thought it was Goldie, or subconscious worries about their relationship, but instead it was something much more straightforward and yet so much more complicated. It didn't help that Mike had a suspicion who 'she' was.

"I thought at first that I was imagining her, but she's there every time I sleep… And she's more demanding," Marionette admitted with sorrow in his voice. His discomfort was evident as he pulled his legs to his chest, pulling himself tightly together. "But she's a liar. I can't trust her, but she won't leave me alone… I just wanted some time. I didn't think a few days would make me this weak."

"You can't do this to yourself," Mike insisted gently as he reached out to pull the other closer. Marionette eagerly accepted his grasp, burying into his shoulder and holding on with what grasp he had. The pizzeria was much less important for the moment. This was his puppet, first and foremost, and he needed to help in whatever way he could. "She can't get you here. All she can do is try to call for you. That's all it is; it's literally a phone call from an annoying relative who you can't hang up on." This roused a soft chime.

"I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry about the pizzeria, don't worry about dreams, or Foxy, or _her_ _,_ or anyone else. Just relax." It was easier said than done, but this time Marionette didn't protest to Mike's suggestion. He allowed himself to be lulled into a sense of security. By time the human dared to hum soft chords of 'My Grandfather's Clock', Marionette had already started to fade into unconsciousness.

Marionette received mercy; he was too exhausted to dream.


	50. Chapter 50

Marionette roused to the sound of voices, the feeling of warmth, and the smell of cologne. He knew he was against Mike immediately, enwrapped in his grasp and stuck between him and the back of the sofa. From their changed position, he immediately knew that the man must have laid down with him. At least he kept his promise to stay with him. Then there were the whispering voices from nearby.

"You have to see this," it was Natalie. He could hear and feel her by the door to the office. There were footsteps before someone else was standing with her. "Isn't that cute?"

"That's something, alright," it was Fritz. His voice held amusement that Marionette could detect even through the whispering. It was now that he realized that they were talking about Mike and him. Self-consciousness passed through him and he began to feel their gaze more heavily on him. With an inward huff, he pressed tighter against Mike.

"Hey, don't give them a hard time," Natalie lightly scolded. "I know that look. If you go poking at them, they're just going to start avoiding each other for a few more days." Apparently, that was the conclusion she took from those few awkward days where the human and the Puppet kept at a distance. She was somewhat right, but it wasn't Fritz that had triggered it.

"…I've got to at least make a toy comment. This is too ironic," Fritz playfully bickered back and Natalie snickered.

"You've got a bad sense of humor. Why do I hang out with you again?... Oh, right, the van," she quipped back with a teasing smile. "You just go make sure everyone's leaving. I'll spare Mike dealing with you and wake him myself." In a way, Marionette didn't know whether to be relieved or not. Fritz wandered off into the pizzeria while Natalie moved closer to shake Mike awake.

Mike tried to shrug her off at first, but then slowly roused from his sleep. He blinked a little before starting to turn back and staring at the woman. It took a few more moments before it all sunk in. Where he was, what he was doing, and why Natalie appeared all rolled in at once. Then there was this look of brief uneasiness; he suddenly realized what state he was caught in.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we're winding down to close and were thinking that you probably didn't want to get locked alone in the office all night," Natalie said with a playful smile. Still teasing, but much more light and less suggestive than Fritz would ever say. As though Fritz could ever figure out what was really going on. Mike fidgeted and slid upwards on the sofa's armrest.

"Yeah, thanks. I'll be out in a minute," Mike answered groggily. He went to fix his hat, not realizing that it had already fallen off and was laying on the floor beside the couch. Natalie headed back out with the same smile; that knowing, amused one. With an exhale, Mike glanced down to the Puppet.

"That could've gone worst. Glad it was Nat and not somebody else," Mike said. He didn't have any idea that Fritz already stopped them. He reached out and gave the mask a reassuring caress, "Any better?" That light chiming, the warbling, returned. Mike had come to recognize it as a signal of affection or contentment, or even both. He was already becoming familiar with these none-verbal but vocal responses.

Marionette was already feeling better. It would still take a few nights of sleeping to return to full strength, but the relief of not having a nightmare, not seeing her, was enough to make him feel like new. He had to thank Mike's insistence for it to, which he intended to do now that they were alone and he had his hands on him. He lifted himself further and pressed his forehead against the human's, caressing his cheeks. Even though he knew that the others could be suspicious, he found himself wanting to risk getting caught. It was so thrilling.

Especially since Mike was now his alone. "Mari…" The Puppet kissed his chin lovingly. "Mari, your brother's going to see us and lose it." He moved to his cheek, nuzzling into the skin after he kissed it. "Mari."

"He probably would. I'm not supposed to trust guys in purple," Marionette reminded. Mike didn't dislike the attention, quite the contrary, but he expected Natalie to return if they didn't appear out of the office sooner or later. He still managed to get a relatively easygoing smirk.

"Stop flirting with me, we still have a job to do," Mike pointed out as he tried to sit upwards a bit more. He collected his jacket, which had slid off the Puppet's shoulders, and slipped it halfway on. "Good to see that you're feeling better."

"Oh, you noticed?" Marionette seemed to enjoy all of this a bit too much. However, he did as Mike suggested and drew himself back. "I love you."

Mike withheld any immediate words, but let himself indulge, cupping Marionette's chin and tilting his mask upwards. "Ah, you're adorable." He only barely caught the sound of footsteps and abruptly pulled back. He turned as he stood, pulling on his jacket and buttoning quickly, and Marionette watched in total amusement.

As expected, Natalie reappeared. "Just making sure you didn't fall back asleep," she explained as she glanced between the two. She then smiled at the animatronic. "How are you feeling, Mari? Better?"

Things between the two were on good terms, though Marionette was still reserved around the blond. That being said, he still gave a regular answer. "Much better, thank you. How was the Prize Corner?"

"Not too bad. There was a girl asking about you though. She's still in there," Natalie forewarned.

"I thought we were closing," Mike pointed out curiously.

"We are. Her parents aren't here and she hasn't left yet," Natalie explained. Worry started to slip onto her features. "I'm a little worried about her." It was now that Marionette raised off the couch.

"I believe I know her. Let me see to her; maybe she needs help getting home." If it was the girl he expected, his little fan, then he wanted to make sure she got home safely. Marionette bypassed Natalie and headed out into the rest of the pizzeria. Natalie followed and Mike grabbed his hat before following, trying to snap himself out of his lingering fog. It wasn't his first time in this sort of relationship, but it was the first time that he had to actively hide it, and it wasn't exactly helping his paranoia. At least he was continuously reassured that it was worth it.

Marionette knew this as well, but found himself worrying about more important things. Currently, it was the little girl, and he attached his strings back to the track as he headed to the Prize Corner. She was already standing at his box and trying her hardest to peer inside of it. Thankfully, she was too young to be able to question why there wasn't any machinery in the bottom of his box. Instead there was simply a few plush toys and a bed of collected tickets. She could make her own assumptions of why they were there.

She only noticed him once he made an attentive chime. She looked back to him and her eyes widened with surprise and joy. "You're okay!" she cried out and scurried closer. Though she didn't dare come close enough to actually touch him; she was still too shy to do something so bold. "I got so scared when you fell down and went to sleep. A-Are you better?" Technically he did 'fall down and go to sleep', funny enough. It got an amused chime out of him. He nodded in reassurance and moved closer. He reached out and patted her head.

"Oh, good," the girl smiled a bit more honestly. "Did your strings break?"

How was he supposed to answer when he wasn't supposed to speak? Apparently, the girl realized this herself as she continued. "I-I know its closed, but I wanted to stay and see you wake up again," she said in an apologetic tone. She fidgeted with a paper in her hands and looked down at her feet. "I drew you a picture." She awkwardly thrust it outwards towards him, hiding into herself as she did so, as though she was truly embarrassed by her drawing ability. Which was rare, as the children he had met usually didn't worry about something like that.

Marionette happily took the drawing and eagerly looked over it. It was adorable; she had drawn both of them together, holding hands, with both smiling wide on the picture. In the top right, she had signed 'Chrissy and Marry' in pink crayon; this was the first time that he had a hint towards her name. Warmth spread along his fingers and he chimed happily. It had been so long since a child had drawn a picture of him and even then, he had never gotten one like this. Freddy and Foxy were the ones who were prone to the 'friendship pictures'.

"Do you like it?" 'Chrissy' asked, peeking upwards at the animatronic she admired. Marionette decided that he liked it too much to answer with a tune alone.

"I love it," Marionette trilled. He then watched in amusement as the girl's mouth dropped open. "I'll tape it up right behind my box!"

"You- You can talk!" Chrissy gasped dramatically. "You never talk! When'd you learn to talk?!"

"I've always been able to talk!" Marionette revealed with his ever-present smile. "I just am a little shy. I just try to stay quiet when there's so many people around." It was partially true, but not the actual reason that he stayed silent, which was mostly out of reflex. Maybe years ago, it was triggered by his shyness, as he had just been a child who became an animatronic. There was no need to drone on about his life story and methods. A simple answer would work.

"Okay!" Chrissy accepted the answer. She just looked so happy and this made him happy in return.

"Thank you for waiting for me, but do your parents know you're here? They must be worried about you!" Marionette pointed out. He didn't want to risk upsetting her, especially after she had made him such a nice gift.

"They don't care," she shrugged off before returning to the topic at hand. "You really, really like it?"

"I really, really love it! In fact, I'll put it up right now." Physically, he moved to the other side of the counter and searched for the tape. Mentally, he began to focus in on that one comment. 'They don't care' didn't sit right with him. Though he knew he could've easily been exaggerating. After all, children didn't overthink what they said. 'They don't care' could easily mean 'I didn't ask or tell'. For the moment, he ignored it, and instead proceeded to tape the drawing to the wall behind his box.

"There! Now I can keep it close by and look at it whenever I need a smile!" he chirped happily. "Thank you!" Her shyness continued to prevail. She was smiling herself, but still obviously sheepish, and he couldn't wait to see if he could get through that last barrier. He found himself sidetracked when he noticed Fritz cleaning off a table out in the dining room. Again, they were still closing and it was getting rather. His concern was clear, but he decided to talk it off.

"Would you like to play a game while we wait for your parents to get here?" Marionette offered and retrieved a token from his stash. "Maybe you'll win something to take home!"

"I'm riding my bike home… But can we play? Is there time?" Chrissy sent a hesitant look out at Fritz. Apparently, she knew of the coming closing time.

"O-Of course! We can always make an exception," the Puppet insisted. Though he was feeling a growing dread. A child travelling home alone when it was already getting dark was simply not going to happen. Maybe if it was summer and the sun set later, but not when it was already on twilight. Children wandering outside would only be at risk. Goldie made sure that he had known that. As much as he currently questioned his former protector and companion, he absolutely agreed with Goldie's concerns. He knew about that  _one incident._

Marionette offered his hand to her, which she eagerly took. "Let's go have fun!" He decided to worry about how she would get home later and instead try and make their brief time special. He took her to the arcade, she chose a game- one of the Foxy themed games that outlasted Freddy's, which involved flying in a plane and shooting at enemies. It made little sense to why a pirate would be in a plane and not a ship, but it was still in good condition, and it was one of the games that was built to dispense tickets based on how well one played.

At first, the others noticed the child still being there but didn't step in. They were still cleaning anyway and Foxy had already retreated to his curtain. It only became more apparent when it went on fifteen minutes and the game was still going. Especially when it was clear that the girl had lost at least once and had yet to put in any more tokens.

Eventually, Mike approached Fritz about this, noticing that the game was clearly lasting longer than expected. "So, is she a prodigy at the game or is he cheating?" he bluntly asked, not having to clarify either point any further.

Fritz had been in the process of writing down a few receipts when he had noticed the scene. After watching long enough, he knew exactly what was going on. "He's just reusing the same token over and over," the technician pointed out. "Stand on this side and watch. You'll see it." There was some amusement, but he was also distracted with what he was doing. Mike circled the table as suggested and stood behind his friend. It wasn't unusual for Fritz to do paperwork out in the party room; Mike suspected that he didn't like the claustrophobia of the office either.

It only took a few minutes before the girl lost and the screen began to count down. Marionette casually slipped his hand down and slid the token into the slot. After a moment, he flicked his wrist back and the token came back out, being pulled by a string that wrapped around it before wrapping around Marionette's wrist and virtually disappearing into his body. He wasn't just cheating; he was cheating using his own strings. Mike couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the situation. One wouldn't expect an employee to cheat at an arcade game.

"We're docking his pay," Mike quipped and Fritz gave him a look, and a smirk, and Mike had a feeling that he knew what was coming.

"I'm sure you'll figure out some sort of adequate punishment. Maybe send him to bed without supper?" Fritz suggested with a raised brow. This took Mike aback.

" _Huh… Not exactly what I was expecting,"_ Mike thought to himself. Indeed, he expected something much more embarrassing.

"Whose bed you send him to is still up to debate," Fritz added in, the smugness appearing in his voice.

" _He never fails to disappoint…"_ The security guard gave an audible groan. "Look, I don't know what you're- I know  _exactly_ what you're implying, and it's not funny anymore."

"When did it stop being funny?" Fritz asked curiously. It was as though he was generally curious and not as though he was making somewhat appropriate hints.

"Since-  _Since it became real-_ Since you started repeating yourself," the younger answered. "Now if you excuse me, I have to go stop a punk from tampering with the machines." He had to get away from the area before he became too obvious. He approached the two at the game and watched as the girl played and Marionette coached. When the game ended again sometime later, Mike decided to interrupt with a cough and it stopped Marionette from resetting the game yet again. The puppet looked back to him and the girl did as well.

"We're going to have to close down soon," Mike forewarned. He didn't notice the brief twitch of discomfort that passed Marionette's face and looked to the girl, who was meekly hiding behind the Puppet's legs. Somehow, she didn't notice that he was off his track, or perhaps noticed and didn't care. "Can we call your parents? It's a little too dark to have you walking home by yourself." The Puppet looked tentatively back to the child again, hoping that she would change her answer.

"I've got my bike…" Chrissy explained with a quiet squeak.

Suddenly, Marionette drew attention by clapping his hands together. "I have a great idea!" he chirped and looked to the girl. "Why don't you let Mike drive you home? He's a very special friend of mine, so he wouldn't mind at all!" He hoped she would say yes, but she seemed a little hesitant.

"I... I don't know… I'm not supposed to ride with strangers," she pointed out. This sent Marionette reeling.

"Oh- No- Of course you're not!... Which is why I would be coming too!" Marionette continued, trying to keep himself on track. "I could even ride in the backseat with you! What do you say?" While Mike wasn't too certain about this idea, it finally was enough for the girl to agree to. "Perfect! Now why don't you collect your tickets so we can find something for you to take home? We have new pencil toppers." He soon led the girl back to the Prize Corner. Mike quickly related the situation to Fritz before heading outside.

He busied himself with fitting the girl's bike into the backseat, as it wouldn't fit in the trunk. It would be awkward, but it left her seat open and gave Marionette enough room to squeeze in beside the bike. Marionette was quick in ushering the girl into the car and slipping in himself, as to not be spotted, and carefully covered himself with the blanket kept in the back. The girl was now cradling another Puppet plush and one of the pencil toppers that also looked like him, and her smile even matched his.

Mike occasionally listened in on their conversation during the drive. Chrissy, though Mike didn't know her name, talked about her school and about riding her bike. She talked about liking horses and monkeys, about visiting the zoo; just about whatever topic she could switch to. The whole while, Marionette listened with complete interest and only occasionally added in with a question or answer. The only times when the talk would stop would be when Mike required directions to where her home was.

Finally, the drive ended outside of a two-story house with a nicely kept lawn. Chrissy gathered her things and Mike removed the bike from the back. A few short goodbyes, some waving, and a few promises to see each other soon commenced. Then she headed to her house, leaving her bike by the door, and let herself in. Being that she was safe, Mike started to head home.

"Isn't she wonderful?" Marionette suddenly gushed. "I just wish I could take her home and have her be my little girl! She's adorable!"

"Yeah," Mike agreed, "and it helps that she practically worships you."

"Oh, she's just so sweet. If only every child in the Pizzeria could be such a doll!" the Puppet finished with. He continued to chime in delight for a few more moments. Then he changed his tune, "What should we do tonight? I feel so much better; let's do something special!"

"What kind of special? Do you mean like 'let's get ticked off playing video games' or watching a movie, because I'm fine with either," Mike replied. Marionette continued his options until they had pulled onto their street.

"We have enough time for both. Besides, you slept with me earlier. I doubt you'll be getting-."

"Oh…" Mike interrupted suddenly. "Oh  _no_." His tone was heavy with sudden foreboding. Almost immediately, Marionette felt himself perk with concern and hummed questioningly. "Oh, no way. This isn't happening." Suddenly, the car jolted forward as Mike hit the gas and sped down the road. Marionette briefly looked out the window and got part of an answer.

There was a car in their driveway with three people standing around like they were waiting. The man and one of the women were unrecognizable, but the second woman was clearly Mike's aunt. Mike dropped the increased speed once off the road, but he didn't stop, and they were now going further from their home. The Puppet carefully eyed the back of Mike's head for a moment before quietly asking.

"That was your mother, wasn't it?" Mike's silence was answer enough. This made everything uncomfortable for a few minutes. Then he gave a more lighthearted continuation, "I always wondered if your hair was natural or not." Mike relaxed his shoulders slightly, exhaled slightly, but didn't say anything further. Marionette didn't get enough time under the circumstances to study her, but he had noticed her dark hair and that, possibly, Mike was a bit taller than her. Though that was just an estimation and not a definite.

"Where will we be going?" Marionette asked and Mike now glanced into the mirror.

"Somewhere. When we stop, you can jump back to the house, but I'm not going back and walking into an ambush. I'll sleep in my car before I let that happen," Mike stated with full determination. He glanced into the mirror again, "You might want to stick with me. They already looked like they were going at the windows."

"I'm more than happy to go anywhere with you," Marionette reassured. "Just as long as I eventually return to my children."

"I'm too broke to quit work for good," Mike playfully answered back. This tone dropped under a sudden realization. "The others probably haven't even gotten out of the Pizzeria yet, so unless we want to break and enter, Fritz and Jeremy's are out." A moment passed before he realized that the being in the backseat was very capable of taking this literally. "I don't really want to go to jail, so let's stick with somewhere we can kill time."

"We can always just return to the Pizzeria," Marionette suggested.

"Eh… My aunt knows I work there. Besides, I'm dodging Fritz if I can," Mike pointed out. "Which should only last about twenty minutes."

Marionette became more amused and chimed. "We could waste an entire night and drive to Chippers, break into there, and toy around with the animatronics." He obviously wasn't being serious, but the comment surprisingly inspired a new train of thought. Mike let it sink in for a few moments, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, and then made his own suggestion.

"You want to go to Freddy's?" The silence in the car returned. "We could blow through an hour at Freddy's… We might want to keep an eye on it while we have the chance," Mike suggested. It wouldn't be the first time that he ran to Freddy's because of his own emotional state.

"…Yes." After giving that relatively straightforward answer, Marionette fell silent. It wasn't a long drive to get to the abandoned pizzeria. Freddy's was still stuck in a state of seemingly permanent limbo. It was still planned for demolition, but political red tape, mostly from the direct lack of answers on the missing children, left the building untouched. Mike had no doubt that Freddy's would be demolished eventually, but for now it was stuck in a place between life and death. Then again, that described Freddy's in a nutshell.

Marionette easily unlocked the front door and let them inside. Freddy Fazbear's Pizza was just as expected; cold, damp, and reeked of various types of rot. While he should've immediately felt uncomfortable, Mike felt a piqued interest at seeing the state of the building. He flicked on his flashlight and shined it over the main room.

"Looks like winter didn't slow down the mold," Mike pointed out matter-of-factly as he approached the stage. "You know it's bad when it looked leagues better when I was working here and it was  _already_  closed down," he remarked with an amused smirk. Then he glanced back at the Puppet who was also scanning the room with interest. "I think we made a wise decision moving to a new building."

"What was it like when you worked here?" Marionette inquired curiously. "I stopped coming back before you started to work. Elsewise, we would've crossed paths at least once."

"Yeah, what a shame," Mike verbally nudged back. It felt good to ignore the elephant in the driveway. "It was already closed, again. Things were starting to fall out of sorts. Foxy was looking rough; everyone was basically drug through the wringers once or twice… I think I might've seen Goldie once or twice." Marionette perked at this. "Didn't get a good look at him."

"And he never attacked you?"

"I'm still here, aren't I? I looked away and he vanished," Mike pointed out with a slight bit of pride. He continued to display his achievements, "Not one of them got into the office under my watch. They certainly tried, over and over again, but I had it all under control."

"You certainly must have!" Marionette quipped. "…But again, it was- who- Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica? They weren't exactly the most agile of us." He was starting to lead something and the security guard knew it. The striped animatronic turned and headed towards the hall that led to the office. "I could only imagine how much trouble you would've given me."

"Touché," Mike retorted and followed him back towards the office. The office looked about the same. The only notable exception was that the power was off once again. Once in the office, Marionette looked to Mike once more.

"Do you ever wish that you worked at the pizzeria when it wasn't completely in shambles?" Marionette inquired curiously. "I'm not hinting anything about Foxy's. Imagine, Foxy's would be there regardless or not there at all. Do you… Ever miss those nights?" The danger, he meant. The long nights of struggling to stay alive. Normally, this question would be entirely nonsensical, but it did make sense in this context. He knew Mike too well and even though he had been left with scars from those nights, the man repeatedly and willingly went back.

"…I don't know. I'm happy where I am… Can't say that I don't sometimes regret missing the party, you know?" He dropped into the office chair, which wobbled uncomfortably, as though it was about to collapse. "Maybe I could've stopped what happened, maybe not, but it's pretty hard to just accept that you can't help."

"…I know that feeling," Marionette admitted, moving out of view. Mike looked over the monitors on the desk and thought about all the nights he had spent here. All of those terrifying yet exhilarating nights of watching these screens. It felt so weird to be able to look back on it with the hindsight he now had.

He felt the Puppet's hands slide onto his shoulders. "You seem so certain that you could've kept your head around me… Even when Jeremy and Fritz were both lucky at best," Marionette remarked confidently. Then he leaned inwards, his grasp flexing, and propositioned, "Would you like to prove it?"

The challenge suddenly piqued Mike's interest. He slowly leaned his head back. "What are we talking about?" he inquired with a twitch from the corner of his mouth. No smirk yet, not until he heard what was being thought up.

"A friendly competition. We both know that neither of us are threats, so it would simply be a test of our skills. I try to get in and you keep me out; the basic jobs of animatronics and security guards," Marionette explained as though it was as casual as could be. Like he wasn't suggesting that he actively began hunting Mike. "As simple as could be."

"Seems a little one-sided," Mike remarked. He could hear an amused trill from the Puppet and decided to correct any possible misreading of his comment. "I mean, the power's off, so I can't shut the doors or check the cameras, and I've seen you pop into rooms. I need a music box, at least," he pointed out. He wasn't necessarily against the idea still.

"We could make a few rules, maybe? I'm willing to play by them if you are, and it's no fun if you don't have some chance of defending yourself." Marionette relished in each playful prod. He then thought over how to make it more fair. "…Perhaps we can play by flashlight rules. Most of the others were kept at bay by the flashes of a flashlight, as the bright lights more or less confused them. We can pretend that the flashlight is the door; if you have it on, I cannot come inside. I also won't teleport. What do you think?"

"It could work… The one-sidedness might've just switched to the alternate party, though," Mike replied cockily and Marionette chimed in amusement. "You know, Fritz was able to turn the electricity on in the office. Some sort of 'lower system', which is probably a fancy way of saying that he fiddled with the fuses in the backroom." As the animatronic circled him, he noticed visible excitement on his face. "Let's take a whack at that and if it doesn't work, we'll play flashlight tag. Sound good?"

"Perfect! Let me come with you," Marionette insisted and Mike silently agreed, standing from the rickety chair. The walk to the backstage room was mostly uneventful. Unlike when he used to work at the pizzeria, the backstage room was mostly barren. Someone, probably Fritz and Fredrick, had cleared out the shelves of parts and spare suits. Other than a table, the only thing of interest was the fuse box, and even that wasn't too unique considering that there was a locked one on the back of the building.

"Let's see if this still works." Mike flicked on the flashlight and shined it over the switches inside. There were some peeling labels that he tried to read. "With our luck, rats have probably chewed through all the wires."

"I'm not particularly fond of rats," the Puppet tutted as he kept an eye out.

"Because they chew your strings?" Mike offered as he finally noticed a switch that was labelled 'lower system'. He flipped it on and asked, "Any sign of light?"

"Because friendly competition is just a myth," Marionette answered, "And yes. There's a light coming from the hall."

"Then that's it," Mike left the box open as he headed out of the room. Before he could start heading back to the office, he stopped and sent a glance towards the other hall where the bathrooms and secret room resided. He found himself lingering even though he knew Springtrap was no longer there. He was over in the warehouse now and was just as unresponsive as he had been when Mike had 'shut him down'. Lingering questions were still there, but he decided to spare the Puppet.

" _If we wanted to deal with parent issues then we would've stayed at the house."_ With this in mind, Mike returned to the office once again. To his relief, the electricity in the office was on once more and was still functioning somewhat. He began to fiddle with the monitors until the one came on. The security guard got a confident smile as he collapsed back in the chair. "So, here's what I'm thinking," he began. "You can't 'pop in', I can't use any sort of music box, and we play for…" He checked his watch. "How about we just go for an hour?"

"I don't need that long," Marionette playfully quipped back with a chime. He moved back towards the doorway. "Have a good night, Mike." With that, Marionette was gone, and Mike was left alone in the office. It was then that it finally sunk in what he had agreed to. Mike was letting Marionette chase him. He was letting the  _sock_ monkey chase him, the- as Marionette usually titled- weasel. He also suddenly put together that the Puppet had actively been calling him a weasel and he had been ignoring it. Again, hindsight.

He looked at the monitor and flipped through the working security cameras and at first Marionette seemed to be gone. It was the light static on the camera of the right hallway that signaled that something was amiss. Naturally, Marionette was unintentionally setting off the camera, and Mike got a light smirk. This smirk was immediately dashed when the sound of the Toreador March broke out through the office. He jumped before huffing and bringing out his cell phone. He expected his aunt and gave a call, "Hold on! I'm getting a call!"

With a click, he answered the call. "Yeah?" There was no response. "Hello?"

"Hello, hello!" a voice introduced from the other side. It was strikingly familiar.

"Phone Guy?" Mike blurted out. Then he immediately reeled, realizing his slip. "Oh, hey! Uh… What's up?" He still had no clue what his name was. He didn't even try.

"Hey, I just wanted to wish you good luck on your first night!" the voice explained. "You've got a long night ahead of you. Just check the doors and keep an eye on the cameras. The electricity shouldn't be a problem, but… Just- Keep your eyes out. Remember, you're not alone in there." As Mike realized that there was no way Phone Guy would know anything about what was going on, he was alerted to what exactly was happening. "It- Uh- It'll try to come in just like the others… But don't trust the cameras too much. It will try to trick you."

Mike was currently staring at the screen and quickly flickered through. This time, the static had moved to the backstage. "Oh yeah?"

"The best thing to do is to listen for it. That's its cue," 'Phone Guy' suggested. "You have no idea what you're getting into." Mike held back a reply of his own; a challenging retort would only rile the animatronic further, and it was obvious that he was the one communicating through the phone. "So, keep an eye out, watch the cameras, listen close, and I'll be coming to get you  _within the hour_." Then the call abruptly ended. Probably for the best, and Mike slipped his phone back into his pocket before flicking through the screens.

There was static in the left hallway and Mike now pushed himself to the doorway. He turned on the light, but could see nothing in the immediate vicinity. He wasn't exactly ready to lower his guard. This turned out to be for the best as, right afterwards, a soft chime could be heard. Though it was from the opposite hall. Mike didn't even fiddle with the light. He lashed out and shut the door, then checked the camera. For a split second, he could see the Puppet in the hallway, but he was immediately gone.

"Still teleporting, just not teleporting in," Mike voiced to himself in almost disbelief. This made things a bit more difficult, but he didn't expect Marionette to 'play too rough'. In a way, the security guard wanted the extra challenge. It wasn't fun if the striped male was too handicapped. He opened the door again and quickly scanned the cameras, seeing nothing, before clicking of the screen and wheeling back to listen. He decided just to pretend that electricity was a factor and, if that was a case, he would have to listen instead of constantly watching.

There were more audio cues than he had heard beforehand. Marionette was chiming a soft song that he couldn't recognize. The soft chiming started to come down the left hallway, but Mike held back from shutting the door. The chiming grew closer and closer, nearly out the side of the door, and Mike's fingers were now on the door closing button. Then, in the last moment, the chime suddenly wavered and changed to the right hallway. Mike had to somewhat scramble to get the right door closed, as he knew that the Puppet was outside the door.

He turned the video back on, but this time was unable to see the Puppet. He briefly reached out to open the door and turn on the light. With Marionette at large again, he began to flick through the various video cameras. The kitchen was unresponsive, as was the bathroom hallway, the closet was empty, and the party room was untouched. He continued trying to change cameras, but to his alarm he found that the monitor was seemingly stuck.

"What the?" Mike muttered to himself as he continued fiddling with the controls. Right when he was about to shut the monitor off, attempting to half-heartedly reboot it, there was movement on the lens. He watched as long, black fingers slowly slid up the camera. Slowly, the hand covered the lens and blocked out vision.  _"He's playing with me now,"_ Mike inwardly thought. Right at that moment, the camera suddenly went entirely to static, and he huffed. "That's got to be cheating." They didn't clarify whether they could sabotage or not.

He turned off the monitor and turned it back on, hoping to be able to change the camera. To his surprise, the camera was back on again, showing an empty party room. He flipped through the screens before finding that the left hallway had static in its camera. The security guard wasn't ready to jump to conclusions and tried to listen in further. A further hint came from, unsurprisingly, the right hallway. Instead of a chime, he could hear a quiet singing.

"You can only hide for so long.~"

As if Marionette wasn't already making everything incredibly uncanny. By now, Mike was slightly on edge, but shut the right door out of reflex. After all, the hint had said that the audio was more reliable than the cameras were. He paused at the door, listening, before suddenly noticing a glimpse of something black and white out of the corner of his eye. The door light outside the left door was still on. He didn't even turn it off, he immediately just shut the second door. Once glance at the camera showed Marionette passing through the party room, being less stealthy.

" _Somebody's getting antsy,"_ Mike smirked inwardly as he opened the door back up and waited. " _Come on, Jack-in-the Box. Make your move."_ He flicked through the cameras before stopping at the right hall's camera, where Marionette was now blatantly standing in view.  _"Nice try,"_ Mike mentally quipped as he shut the left hall's door. He then leaned out of the right door and shined his flashlight down the hall. There was no sign of the Puppet; it had been yet another trick. He moved back in and turned on the light for the left hall, trying to peer out the left window.

Then, suddenly, everything went dark. The door flew open, the monitor shut off, and Mike was standing in the dark office.  _"I'll be damned, there was a power limit,"_ Mike numbly thought as he blankly stared at the opened door. Before he could even contemplate what he was going to do, the sound of music broke through the office.

This time, it was the familiar warning tune of 'Pop Goes the Weasel'.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Mike choked out under his breath and started shining the light back and forth between the doors. "Which side?!" It sounded like the music was blaring in from both sides at once. For the first time that night, he felt nervous. He suddenly had a better idea of his coworkers' previous anxiousness towards the Puppet.  _"Why the hell did I think this was a good idea?! We should've stuck to flashlight tag!"_

Then he suddenly appeared; Marionette popped into the doorway. In the few seconds Mike saw him, he was shaking and trembling in either annoyance or excitement. His eyes were aglow with pinpricks of light and had focused directly on the security guard. Mike immediately broke into a sprint and took off down the hallway. He could hear the blaring music on his heels as Marionette feverishly chased him down. The man sprinted down the length of the party room and took a sharp corner towards to the bathroom hallway.

He tore into the closest bathroom, pushed through the door, and held the door closed with his weight. There was a brief thump on the door, like a frustrated smack on the wood of the door. The music died and static replaced it, but it faded away quickly, and everything went silent.

" _First thing's first; I need to get the lights back on,"_ Mike addressed to himself as he glanced around the bathroom. " _Maybe Mari cut the power. All he would've had to do is flip a fuse."_ It was the only thing he could think of. If he returned to the office Marionette would find him, but if he continued hiding in the bathroom then he would look like a coward. The best option was to head to the backstage and see if it would work.

He slowly opened the bathroom door and peered out. He decided to keep his flashlight off as he crept out of the hall and into the party room, trying to see adequately through the darkness. Mike kept himself close to the stage and wall around it, slowly sliding down the length of the room, past the stage, and in the direction of the backstage. " _It's too quiet…"_ Mike mentally remarked as he pressed against the wall and slid past a party table that was shoved a little too close to it.  _"Maybe I should just hide out backstage for a while…"_

That's when a tightness suddenly locked around his ankles.

" _Of course, he's been staking out the tables…"_ Mike stumbled to the side, dragging along the Puppet with him as he tried to get out of his grasp. The animatronic only gave a chime of warning before it suddenly sprung, right as he was at the doorway to the backstage. Marionette wasn't even heavy, but what little weight he had, along with the awkward shove, caused the security guard to stumble and fall to the grimy floor. Almost immediately, Marionette wrapped his arms around Mike's shoulders from behind, clinging to him.

By now, Mike wouldn't have been too terribly surprised if Marionette outright tried to strangle him, but instead the Puppet simply held onto him. He began to warble and chime with triumph, nearly bragging through his own delight.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Mike muttered as he started trying to sit upwards. Still, Marionette was clinging to him, and Mike couldn't help but be a little disappointed in walking right into the animatronic's trap. "You win, congrats, but can we please get off this floor before I catch something deadly?"

"Not yet," Marionette quietly requested. "I deserve something for catching you, don't I?"

"Alright, what do I owe you?" Mike slowly returned to playfulness. It was still jarring what happened earlier, how unbelievably determined Marionette had been to unnerve him, but it was an equal relief that the animatronic had returned to his more affectionate side.

"I get to choose anything, right?" Marionette reassured. "No matter how peculiar it is, you will agree to it?"

"Sure…" And suddenly Mike felt his suspicion raise once again. He shifted and heard one of the tiles make a squelching noise beneath him. "Ugh. This floor needs to be burned… What do you want?" The animatronic stayed silent, unmoving as he continued to hold onto the human. "…Mari?" Mike tapped the Puppet's arm and he responded by holding a little tighter.

"I want you to take me back to Afton's Robotics so I can see her," Marionette laid out. This wasn't what Mike expected to hear. It had just been oddly dropped into the conversation and now sat there, lingering, as the two sat on the floor together. "I know it is dangerous… It's so much to ask after what happened last time."

"We can go," Mike spoke without thinking. Maybe he was overcompensating, but it slipped out.

"You… You're really willing to go back?" Marionette asked curiously as he started to release him from his grasp. Mike took this opportunity to stand and offered Marionette his hand. He knew he didn't need it, but he still offered, and he then had his reply.

"Yeah, I am," Mike agreed. "…Because I'm not going to let you get like you were earlier. If this is what's going to cut back the nightmares, then I'll go along with it."

Marionette took his hand and raised off the floor. He looked relieved, "Thank you, Mike… I don't want to go down there alone, but she isn't going to stop until I confront her face to face." He looked downwards and rubbed his arm uncomfortably. "I… I won't let you get hurt this time. I'm not letting either of us get that close. If she won't cooperate then I intend on leaving. Then I'll deal with the nightmares some other way." He shrugged it off, "But let's not think of that now! We, or perhaps I, still need to celebrate thwarting Freddy's best security guard."

"This would've been different if the power wouldn't have gone out," Mike attempted to excuse. Though his pride then slipped. "…But I've got to admit, that was way more impressive than anyone else I've ever dealt with. Even  _Goldie_ couldn't get ahold of me." Marionette gave a lighthearted chime and squeezed the human's hand, then started to slowly lead him.

"Perhaps next time, things will go differently," Marionette quietly suggested. Then he turned his attention to the front door. "Let's go see if our home is cleared out. I want to continue our night, but I would prefer not to continue it here."

Mike wouldn't argue. In fact, he wasn't prepared to argue with that 'next time' comment. He could still feel the adrenaline and he loved the rush. Better still, he wasn't leaving with a pink slip and the dread that something was going to get him in his sleep. Ironically, the animatronic was accompanying him home and yet he felt entirely safe.

There would be a next time and when that came, he would be ready.


	51. Chapter 51

Jeremy wasn't expecting visitors.

To put it simply; Jeremy didn't ever get visitors unless it was Mike or Fritz, but even then, it was earlier than this. The man was halfway through cooking dinner when the knock came at the door. Instantly, the television shut off and there was a scampering noise through the nearby hallway. Jeremy glanced at couch as he headed to the door, seeing that Daisy was still on the floor in a basic stance, and guessed that the magician had rushed off. He sort of sent a perplexed look before opening the door. To his surprise, Mike was standing on the other side of the door.

"Mike?" Jeremy asked in confusion. "What are you doing here?" He started to move to let him in regardless.

"I need somewhere to hang out for a while. My family is casing the house and I don't want to deal with them," Mike briefly explained. There was some annoyance in his voice, but it was obviously aimed towards his relatives instead of his coworker. "Can I come in?"

"Sure!" Jeremy ushered him in and shut the door behind him. "What about Mari? He can't be doing well with strangers around the house." Mike just responded with a casual point and Jeremy looked back to see the Puppet standing only a foot behind him. He gave a slight jump, but suppressed the squeak that would've followed. "Oh, uh… Hey there."

"Evening," Marionette chimed back as he turned his attention to Mike briefly, then looked back to Jeremy. "At least I used the door this time." Mike now looked back with a confused expression, but shrugged it off and decided not to ask.

"I'm, uh, making dinner if you want some, Mike. Daisy's- Say hi, Daisy- and the magician is off somewhere," Jeremy quickly accessed. Daisy responded to the command by giving a small curtsy. Again, Marionette chimed in delight, and lowered himself to kneel in front of her.

"That'd be great," Mike answered and watched as Jeremy passed by into the kitchen. "It's a nice place you have here. Renting or owned?"

"Renting, but it's pretty cheap, and it's more than enough for the three of us. Daisy doesn't need much space and the magician doesn't really move too much once he gets comfortable," Jeremy reassured as he crossed to the stove. "You're okay with stir fry?"

"I'm okay with anything as long as I don't have to cook, buy, or drive somewhere to get it," Mike listed with a briefly cheeky smile. He shed his jacket and sat down at the small dining room table. "I didn't know you cooked outside of pizza."

"Well, yes, but not this. This came out of the freezer," Jeremy explained with slight amusement as he fussed with the stir fry. He poked it around with a spatula and kept a close eye so that it wouldn't burn. Mike, meanwhile, stayed mostly silent at the table until Marionette came to sit with him with Daisy in his arms. The Minireena seemed content in his grasp and Mike quirked a brow.

"Nothing like they were in Afton's," the security guard reminded and the Puppet nodded in agreement. He affectionately hugged the doll closer and she, like an eager child, bowed her head into his fabric chest. The Puppet chimed, but he noticed that the warbling noise was still exclusive to him alone. Even when he leaned down to press his mask against the Minireena's.

"Cute," Mike broke in with a playful smile. At first, Marionette chimed in agreement, but only then realized that he didn't mean Daisy. From his gaze, the compliment was clearly aimed to Marionette. The Puppet smiled a little more, though turned his face downwards in a shy motion. The moment Jeremy turned to face them again, the scene between the two immediately dropped.

"Speaking of Afton's…" Mike led into, glancing over at Jeremy. "We're going back."

The look on Jeremy's face was unbelievable. It was almost worth coming over just for that look alone. " _What?_ " the man choked. "Why- Why would you go back there?! Mike, you were in the hospital! And you-," he looked to Marionette, but stunted his words. "You- You would be a mess if something happened to Mike!" Whatever he was going to originally say was quickly replaced.

"Thanks for the obvious. That's what we keep you around for," Mike jabbed back in amusement. However, there was a loss of amusement rapidly, as he did acknowledge the risks. "It's out of our hands, really. It's a long story, but if we don't get down there then we're risking repeats of what happened earlier." He glanced over towards Marionette, signaling what he meant. Jeremy's focus followed suit and switched to the Puppet.

"Are you doing better?" Jeremy tentatively asked. Marionette looked downwards at the Minireena, deciding not to look at Jeremy as he answered the question.

"I'm fine now. Don't worry about me," the Puppet quipped and turned his attention on Daisy. "She's so sweet. You've done well in raising her…" Suddenly he got a brief glint in his eye before questioning, "Have you ever wanted to take in her sisters?"

"You mean the other Minireenas? I'm pretty sure they were… They weren't working." Jeremy was clearly tempted by the question. At least, tempted by the conversation itself, but not seemingly willing to jump into the ultimate suggestion.

"We were sure that this one wasn't working either," Marionette pointed out as he held Daisy closer. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Mike was starting to catch on to his suggestions. "Come with us. I have no intention of allowing her, or  _them_ , to attack us. It should be safe enough."

"I don't think that's- that's a good idea," Jeremy responded with clear discomfort. "I don't- I was just saying that I thought you two shouldn't go!" Mike, meanwhile, couldn't tell if Marionette was playing with Jeremy or genuinely wanted him to join. The Puppet did have a habit of teasing the other man, perhaps because Jeremy was so squeamish.

" _If he only saw earlier,"_ Mike thought with a smirk. On one hand, Jeremy survived Marionette's hunting in the past. On the other hand, he had a music box to keep him at bay. Mike had been going on rules, sheer luck, and continuously reading and misreading behavior patterns. Marionette could be predictable, but he also knew how to be equally unpredictable. Jeremy would never know as much as Mike…

He could  _never_ find out what was going on behind closed doors. They would have to watch themselves while they were here.

Marionette brought it up two more times during dinner. While Mike and Jeremy ate, he continued to sit alongside them, occasionally quipping about how 'safe' Afton's would be the second time through. Though he was eventually distracted when the magician appeared out of the nearby hallway and started making rhythmic tapping noises. As though in some sort of communication.

Eventually it started becoming late and Mike wasn't making any effort to leave. He said nothing, but Jeremy started to get the idea that he and Marionette weren't leaving anytime soon. It wasn't exactly an issue, but he did finally ask once he was putting away the leftovers of dinner.

"Do you want to stay over? I don't think- Your family wouldn't stay all night, I don't think, but you're welcome to stay," Jeremy offered to Mike. Though Marionette knew he was included; after all, he hadn't been here too long ago spending most of the night.

"That would be great. I'm hoping you have a second bedroom?" Mike questioned.

"Just mine, but I can fix up the couch a little bit," Jeremy offered sheepishly. "I could make something in the chair for Mari."

"Mari sleeps in a cardboard box ninety-five percent of the time. We'll find something that can manage," Mike assured with clear amusement. Though this was mostly because he had a suspicion that the Puppet would probably end up on the couch with him.

Jeremy stared for a few seconds, considering this, and then dared to remark, "I probably could find a box…" He stared again, then quietly asked. "Would a box work?"

"It should." Mike shrugged off his jacket and tossed it over. "Just put this in the bottom. He'll be fine." Jeremy seemed only half convinced, but slowly headed off to find the box. Mike sent an amused smirk down at Marionette, who was knelt on the floor with the magician. The Puppet seemed to notice as he turned and looked back. There was a flash of a less than impressed look, which only got more amusement out of the security guard.

It didn't take long for Jeremy to return with the carboard box. It wasn't nearly as big as either of the Puppet's boxes, but it was enough for him to fit in. He sent it an almost leering look as Jeremy sat it down in front of the couch, beside the mostly apathetic magician. "I'm actually lucky I still have this. I threw out most of my boxes after my last move. This is the only one that's not buried in the office," Jeremy quipped as he brought the blanket and pillow out of the box and tossed them both onto the couch. "I also grabbed some cards. Just in case the night stared getting dull, we could play a game or something."

"Nothing like a night of gambling," Mike remarked as he took the box and opened it. "We could try making it interesting."

"Mike, you don't want to do that," Jeremy warned quietly. He seemed amused as he started putting Mike's jacket in the bottom of the box. "Are you… Sure you don't need more than this?"

"I don't think anything more will fit," Marionette pointed out. "I've slept in much more uncomfortable situations. I've spent a few hours in a vent or under a table." Jeremy lingered on that comment, but continued to try and make the box look nice. The jacket wasn't much to him, but it was quite possibly the one thing to keep the animatronic in the box.

"What, afraid you'll lose?" Mike teasingly asked as he toyed with the cards in his hands. "Come on, Jere. You've got to take risks sometime or you're not living."

"I'm not afraid I'll lose. As a matter of fact, I'm afraid you will lose," Jeremy responded in a surprisingly confident manner. "Mike, when I was serving my sentence all we did was cards. Even when we didn't have things to bet with, we were playing cards. I played more cards in that time than you have in your entire life; I know it."

Immediately, Mike's brows raised and his interest was piqued. "Huh, I keep forgetting that you have a record. You seem too quiet to commit any sort of crime. Except, I don't know, stealing candy or something." Indeed, Jeremy didn't seem like the type to be involved in any sort of illegal activity. Jeremy's face fell as he gave more details.

"I was with a bad crowd. We 'just happened to find' a car with the keys in it and went to drive around… Turns out the police were waiting for us. We all got time," Jeremy admitted, but then waved it off. "It's not a big deal. The important part is that I know my cards, so save your money and we'll play for fun."

"…I think I'm willing to take the risk," Mike warned. "It won't be the first one I made today." He knew that Marionette, at least, would get the nod.

"Okay, don't say I didn't warn you…' Jeremy caved.

It was a good thing Jeremy explained too because, in any other circumstance, Mike would've thought he was cheating. In the following games of cards, Jeremy played mercilessly, Mike lost repeatedly, and three animatronics observed with varying levels of interest. By time the two mutually decided that they should stop, Mike owed Jeremy fifty dollars, and this was with him winning the last game.

The evening continued to sluggishly pass. While both Mike and Marionette would've preferred to be home, mostly because of how careful they had to be, neither was willing to suggest checking a third time. Instead, they just tried to keep a form of distance from each other, in the form of communication with the other. Marionette kept his attention on the magician and Daisy while Mike kept a conversation with Jeremy. While Mike didn't know Jeremy as long as Fritz, he had gotten rather close to him. Which was a feat in and of itself, considering that he was dodging his own mother.

Everything seemed rather easy and Mike let his guard down just a bit. There was only a single hiccup, being when Marionette, who was sitting on the floor, slid back towards the couch. He leaned back against Mike's leg, affectionately offering the slightest bit of contact without being too obvious. It was Mike who absentmindedly reached for him. Then, realizing what he was doing, he stopped midway through the motion with his hand hovering in the Puppet's direction.

Mike continued to look at Jeremy, trying to read if there was any sort of curiosity or response. Instead, Jeremy seemed distracted with the Minireena who had decided to randomly start climbing the television. The security guard felt himself ease a bit more and let his hand move down to rest on Marionette's shoulder. He wouldn't notice; Jeremy was a little oblivious at times. It was perhaps this lack of noticing that had given Mike a false sense of confidence.

So, when Jeremy was eventually heading to bed, Mike's paranoia diminished at least a little bit. Especially once it was only him and said Puppet in the living room. Jeremy had taken Daisy with him and the magician had wandered of; which in and of itself was weird, as Mike had yet to see the animatronic moving more than its head or arms. Marionette was currently trying to adjust to the box, fussing with the jacket and trying to shift into a comfortable position before fiddling with the box flaps. He eventually gave a static huff of annoyance, and Mike chuckled in response.

"Why don't you give up on the box and move up here with me?" Mike suggested as he fixed with the blanket over his legs. He wasn't exactly comfortable either, being that he was stuck in his uniform for the rest of the night and confined to a couch. "Jeremy's going to sleep anyway."

"He won't be asleep immediately," Marionette reminded as he started to raise back out of the box, "and there's always a chance that he will come back out for something. It's not safe to assume that he will stay in bed all night." This was completely logical. What wasn't logical was the fact that Mike was feeling much less concerned, and that Marionette was getting out of the box regardless of his words.

"Natalie didn't think anything. All Jeremy will think- and that's if he wanders back out here- he'll just think that you gave up on the box. He's not like Fritz. He's too innocent to think of anything more questionable," Mike reassured. Jeremy had been the one pushing for them to get over their fighting, or whatever that was, and be close again. It wouldn't make sense for him to now be questioning how close they were. A smirk slipped onto Mike's face, "I should've just told him about some of the stuff you were doing earlier. That would've kept him out of here."

Marionette chimed in amusement, "But he wouldn't have slept very well at all."

"I intend to sleep well and I was the one going through it," Mike countered back as he tugged the blanket down invitingly. Finally, Marionette caved and moved beside him, eagerly clinging onto him and accepting the comfort that the couch provided, in contrast to the awkwardness and discomfort from the box.

"If everyone keeps catching us like this then they're going to know what is going on," Marionette reminded. "It's not worth the trouble of you getting in trouble."

"I'd say it's worth it. It's not like there aren't strings attached," Mike quipped before teasingly nudging over his shoulder. "And they're attached around here." This roused another chime of amusement and Mike pulled the animatronic closer. Even after earlier, even after those few minutes where considered that Marionette was aggressively hunting, he still felt safe. If anything, it only made him want to be closer, to feel that pounding rush through his chest and heart. There was little danger- he knew this- but the thrill of the chase was still there.

For about ten minutes, Mike just held the Puppet close. Then everything briefly faded away.

Though it wasn't gone long. Mike roused sometime afterwards and, even though groggy, immediately noticed that Marionette had moved. He sent a glance at the box, but at this angle he could tell that it was empty. He sluggishly raised his head and looked around, before finally spotting the Puppet in question. Marionette was standing in this sort of storage area that was located near the bathroom. While he was facing and looking back towards him, Mike doubted that he had been watching much longer. It was more possible that he heard the human moving and responded.

"What are you doing awake?" Mike tiredly asked. He rubbed at his face and attempted to rouse himself further. It had to be past Midnight, but he couldn't see any clocks in the immediate area, so he didn't continue questioning. Instead, he focused on the Puppet. It didn't take him long to realize that Marionette was trying to stay awake again, regardless of what happened earlier. "You're not trying to stay awake all night again. You can't be," Mike muttered out and let his head drop on the armrest. "Mari…"

"I'm just not tired yet," Marionette tried to protest. He turned away and pretended to be looking at something else. Mike didn't buy the explanation or the fake distraction.

"Just lay back down. There's nothing that interesting over there anyway." Mike's mind was clouded, so he wasn't exactly in the mood to argue about it. Especially if they were going to Afton's at some undisclosed time in the future. It could be tomorrow, it could be next week; whenever it was, they would both have to be extremely careful. Marionette couldn't collapse in Afton's or it would risk both his life. Or whatever being a Puppet counted as; the lines were blurrier when Mike was half-awake. "Come on, Babe. We need the sleep."

He was awake enough to realize that wasn't supposed to slip out. It got a few moments of blankly staring out at the dim living room, but not much else. Marionette seemed quieter, though that could've been because Mike called him out. Eventually, the security guard decided to try again. "Mari?" At least he got the nickname right this time. "I know you're tired."

Marionette was nowhere near tired now. In a single instance, what was already an uncomfortable conversation changed to something much worse. That word, that single word, suddenly tightened at his arms, around his strings, and forced him to suddenly recall that dismal feeling. There had always been one feeling that that word, and variations of it, would trigger. It felt close to some sort of sickness; the feeling of an adrenaline spike followed by a fit of sobbing. It had been so long since someone, other than himself, other than the dream, called him that.

It took him a few moments before he could realize that Mike had continued speaking. "…What?" He tried to hide the wavering in his voice and was thankful that he was turned away, as Mike couldn't see what was probably a dumbstruck look across his face. The sensation had snuck past his confidence and, for a moment, he went to panic. Yet he didn't think that Mike meant it, he knew that he wasn't five minutes away from berating him for being a 'crybaby'. Marionette wasn't that out of touch; he quickly realized that it was a term of endearment.

The Puppet pushed back the more flustered part of him as Mike continued, "Come here." His voice was still gentle as he tried to coax the animatronic back over. Originally, Marionette intended to protest, but the surge of unexpected emotion left him defenseless. He returned to the couch and to his position beside Mike.

Mike pulled him in close; taking care to work the blanket around him. This was either to comfort him or to keep him from fleeing again; it could've been either of them reasonably or could've been both. As shaken as Marionette was, he covered his disturbance rather well, as Mike seemed to only recognize it as reluctance to sleep. He still made the attempt to comfort him. Mike let his hand gently caress his back and gave a soft sigh. "Better?" he inquired and Marionette didn't know how to respond.

Eventually it occurred to him that he was already feeling better and, even more noticeable, he hadn't shed a tear. As jarring as it had been, he hadn't broken down, he hadn't cried, and he was already feeling better. The memories, though still present, weren't bothering him like they used to. He wrapped his arms tighter around the human, his human, and let himself relax. "I love you."

* * *

_He was waiting for her. He knew that she was going to be there regardless, so it was worth being prepared, so when he felt consciousness he braced himself. Shortly afterwards, she appeared in view. He was slightly surprised by her appearance, but not enough to show it. He wouldn't give her that much._

" _Hello," she said in her soft and innocent sounding voice. It was very deceptive, but more appropriate now. She was no longer a monstrous amalgam of wires, hiding her face behind a clown mask, and bitter with every word. Instead, she was a familiar female clown, and her voice held a saccharine tone. "Look. I returned to my other body. I'm on my own again."_

_Marionette remained silent, but she knew that he was looking over her skeptically. "It feels so strange being back in this old body. It's… Smothering… But it's safe. It's familiar."_

" _What is it that you want from me?" Marionette abruptly inquired. His voice held apathy, which he was determined to try and keep now. She had been invading his dreams and he wasn't willing to allow her to suck him in. Her words were like cake; fluffy, sweet, but ultimately fleeting. "You continue to call for me night after night. What are you trying to accomplish…?"_

" _Call me Baby, please," 'Baby' asked. "I want to be Baby again. The others… I will miss them, but I can't stay trapped to them any longer. They want something that I can't give them…" Marionette emanated static, attempting to show his growing impatience, and hoping that the action will allow him to keep control. "…I was thinking about some things… I was thinking about my Pizzeria."_

" _The one that closed?" Marionette inquired._

" _Yes… It was called 'Circus Baby's Pizza World'… But it was never mine. I only had one day… But it was a wonderful day!" Baby's voice gained a bit of light in it. "The music, the cake, the ice cream!… The children… I miss that day. I've been thinking more and more about that day since we met…" The Puppet had a suspicion of where this going._

" _I want to go with you to your pizzeria," Baby admitted. "I said no before, but I wasn't thinking. There were too many voices speaking at once… But I know that it was a mistake. I don't care about a human body anymore, I just want that day back!"_

"… _I don't believe you," Marionette blankly stated. "I think that you did want a human body. I think you still want a human body. You just realized that you can't get ahold of one and that you want to leave your cold facility." He turned away, turning his back on her, and tried to shut her out. "You'll say anything to get out."_

" _That's not true," Baby protested. "I do miss the pizzeria. I miss making balloons and singing, making ice cream and serving cake, seeing children… Happy… I miss being happy." She sounded somewhat convincing, but he was managing to give her the cold shoulder. "Come see me, Brother. See how I've changed. See that I can be trusted."_

"… _Please, don't call me that," he sighed out. "Call me Marionette. Being called 'Brother' brings up memories."_

" _Then I will," Baby agreed, "Marionette."_

"… _I will come see you," the Puppet continued, "but do not mistake this as me coming to get you. I will come see you, but I still do not trust you, and I don't have any intention of bringing you back. You will need to earn that trust."_

" _I understand," Baby quietly finished._

" _But until I get there, I want you to stop haunting my dreams. Your hounding is doing nothing except-."_

" _Hello," a third voice joined in. Immediately the Puppet recognized the voice and almost immediately afterwards, Baby was gone. Marionette turned to face the new, but familiar voice. Slouched in what was mostly a pit of darkness was a familiar child, who he recognized through animatronic association. "Hahaha, she left quick! I guess she didn't want anyone here who could ask her real questions. Like how **it** lives with itself." He was laughing as he looked upwards to the Puppet, "By the way, he sees you. He's watching you right now."_

"… _Who?" Marionette tentatively asked._

_The boy quickly replied in a rather amused tone, "Jeremy."_

* * *

Almost immediately, Marionette woke on the couch and, right afterwards, turned to see that Jeremy was standing at the foot of the couch. The Magician was also standing nearby, explaining why he had randomly barged in on the dream. It took the Puppet a few moments to realize that, again, they were caught, and, again, Mike was sleeping through it. This time he knew that he was spotted. Jeremy knew he was awake, unlike Natalie and Frisk. He had no choice but to somewhat deal with the situation.

" _If Baby can be talked down, then Jeremy can be as well,"_ Marionette reminded himself as he slid out of Mike's grasp. Thankfully, the security guard wasn't holding on too tight, so he escaped the hold and then stared down Jeremy like he was preparing to spring. Now it was just a matter of his reaction.

Jeremy shuffled back towards the hallway and Marionette, amused, followed along with him. They were soon in Jeremy's bedroom and Marionette had every intention to explain the situation in a realistic and believable way. The human led in with an awkward cough, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, if I can ask you why you are awake," Marionette quipped back. If he sounded casual, then this whole thing wouldn't be misread… Or read how it was; being that it absolutely wasn't innocent.

"Just- uh… It's like six o'clock. I usually get up around now," Jeremy quickly explained. He sounded a little anxious, but this wasn't anything unusual. He looked over at Daisy's box for a moment. This led Marionette to incorrectly assume that the question would be about Afton's. It wasn't. "Did you… Tell Mike about- you know- you?" Marionette knew exactly what he meant and he shrunk back.

"I have not… I wouldn't ever tell Mike that… Or put him in that situation." He averted his gaze to Minireena's bed. He hadn't felt badly being firm with Baby, but lying to Jeremy was shockingly hard to do. Especially since he did put him in that exact situation.

"I just- I noticed that Mike stopped mentioning Louise rather quickly, and… Well, that." Unfortunately, Jeremy was quick, and he was picking up the signs. "I thought that maybe you talked and Mike was-."

"Humoring me? No, no. That's not the situation at all." Marionette didn't know if Jeremy was insinuating that or something else. In a way, he felt better not knowing. "Mike and Louise just haven't been speaking as much. He hasn't said why, but it's probably because of the family issue, and as for that, well… I will be honest with you Jeremy." Partially honest, at least. "I've been having trouble sleeping and without my music box… Mike suggested I share the couch with him. That was all it was."

Surprisingly enough, Marionette wished that he could tell Jeremy the truth. Part of him truly wanted to tell someone about his adventures on cloud nine, but he couldn't. He couldn't tell any humans, he couldn't tell Foxy, Dream Goldie was unfriendly, and Mike already knew. This would have to be their secret.

"Oh, okay. That's fine… I just don't want you to get yourself… Too wrapped up… Yeah," Jeremy slowly trailed off. "I didn't mean to wake you up. I might head back to bed so I don't wake Mike up." He wouldn't say it, but he was afraid that the Puppet would get too close and get hurt. After that night, he had sort of put together part of what was going on, and he had concerns that Mike wouldn't be as understanding.

"Have you considered my offer?" Marionette questioned and Jeremy looked confused. "Coming to Afton's with us, I mean. I know you've been down there and I know it's dangerous… And I'm aware that Funtime Foxy does look like Toy Foxy did, but I think it will be safer with more people… I do worry about Mike." The Puppet shuddered, which felt rather odd to do. "I do worry, 'What if there will be an ambush? What if she lures me away and goes for Mike?' I think there's less of a chance of that if you and possibly Fritz accompany us."

"I… I don't know," Jeremy admitted. It wasn't a full 'no' any longer, but it was still uncertain. "I wouldn't turn down more Minireenas. Daisy's been wonderful to have around, so I would be glad to take in more… But I just don't think we should go back. I don't think you should go back."

Marionette let out a sighing noise and a low sound, then decided to be honest. "I have no choice. I must go," he revealed to the male. "You don't have to come, but I hope you do. I hope Fritz does. I hope Natalie does… Because I want to avoid a situation like last time, and I know she won't attack multiple people. Inside, she is afraid… But I'm rambling!" Marionette's emotions took an abrupt turn as his discomfort returned. He didn't need to vent about his issues. He wasn't a  _baby_ , he could handle this like an adult.

…Though he was Mike's 'Babe' now. What a conundrum.

"I'm going to let you rest or get up- Either or is fine!" Marionette chirped with friendliness as he headed to the door. "Just rest assured that, as it is, everything is under control." He was confident that it was as he left and returned to the living room. However, he was unsure if he wanted to risk laying down again. Though he did notice that Mike was laying in an odd position; face down on the couch. Marionette moved closer and nudged his shoulder.

"Don't worry, he doesn't suspect anything," Marionette tried, having a feeling that Mike was awake.

The security guard fidgeted on the couch and gave a muffled, "Thank God." The Puppet gave an affection chime and reached forwards to stroke through the human's dark hair. His chiming turned to a warbling before he pulled back and moved to kneel on the floor. Being that it was basically morning, or close enough, he decided to stave off risk by just staying awake. He turned on the TV and lost himself in the fleeting stories of a group of old women fighting over cake. It would numb him for a while and that was good enough for him.

As for Jeremy, he was still lost in his own decision. He didn't want to go back into that cold, dark, and empty facility deep underground. It was suffocating; he hadn't been able to breathe with his lungs being filled with dust and the odor of decay. It was a nightmarish place, yet here he was considering it. He sent a glance towards Daisy's box before standing and crossing to it. He peered down at her small form. She really was wonderful; he had been so lonely before she and, eventually, the Magician came to stay with him.

He didn't understand at first why Mike would choose to live with a possibly dangerous animatronic. It wasn't until Daisy that he realized the true joy of taking care of a creature like this. At first, they looked dangerous, but there was a very human-like personality hidden underneath. Daisy was mischievous and playful, but she was also affectionate and looked to him like a parent. Wasn't it worth the struggle to have more little dolls like her? Dolls that would have personalities, feelings, and were just as capable of love?

To his dismay, it was. He had his answer for Marionette… But for the time he had left, he had other plans.

"Daisy?" Jeremy quietly spoke to the doll. It wasn't until he tapped her hand that she turned her head to acknowledge him. "Do you… Want to stay with me in my bed?" Daisy pushed herself upwards and reached towards the human, who scooped her into his arms and carried her to his bed. She giggled as he held her close and shut off the light, deciding to get more rest. There, holding her, he completely understood why Mike would agree to share a bed with an animatronic. It was so innocently perfect; he could hold and protect his little companion. Nothing could ruin it.

"… _This would be pretty weird with Foxy, though."_

Then he somehow ruined it.


	52. Chapter 52

Fritz and Natalie's reactions to going back to Afton's were mixed. When Mike presented the idea to them, Fritz immediately had a look of alarm, while Natalie looked more concerned. This was probably because, unlike Fritz and Jeremy, Natalie had yet to go to Afton's. It wasn't like she had much interest in going either. Neither of them expected this to be presented to the group.

The pizzeria had only just closed and they had yet to properly clean the restaurant. That being said, this was a proper distraction to procrastinate that duty even further. At least Jeremy was sweeping some confetti off the floor, but this was mostly an excuse to not have to explain himself.

"And before you list off me almost dying and everything," Mike stated matter-of-factly, "Jeremy's already done it. We don't have a choice but to go back down there."

"That's… Insane," Fritz admitted with an awkward smile. "Are you sure about this? There's nothing left in Afton's. You've had to have seen everything… Well, on that floor." The technician gave an odd cough and shrugged. "But, hey, if you want to go back then I can't stop you. Just… Try not to get yourself killed this time."

"To be fair, I wasn't asking for your opinion. I was asking if either of you wanted to come with us. We're under the impression that the more people who're there, the less chance of us getting outright attacked by anything," Mike explained and Fritz groaned, dropping his head.

"I think I'll take a rain check," Natalie quipped in with an uncomfortable smile. "Besides, this seems like a Freddy thing. I don't want to intrude."

"It's mostly a security guard reunion," Mike quipped back in amusement. "Fritz, you? Come on, you've been down there before and you know how to use a taser better than I do."

Fritz gave a slow groan as he rubbed at his face. "I'll think about it," he muttered. Unfortunately, this was as good as a yes, and Fritz suspected that he would soon be stuck joining them.

Out of the way, Marionette noticed Foxy peering out of his curtain. The pirate disappeared behind his curtain with a shake of his head. Noticing such a scathing response, the Puppet left the sight of the humans and followed him behind the curtain. He gave a concerned chime and tilted his head.

"You shouldn't be going back down there," Foxy remarked in a low voice as he leaned against the back wall. It wasn't like there was much else to do in the wall spot behind the curtain. "We've been over this. There's nothing down there worth looking for." The Puppet was surprised to hear that the pirate was falling out of character. His accent was almost entirely gone. That alone showed how upset he was.

"There's our sister," Marionette reminded quietly, "and she's made it very clear that she won't let me rest." Foxy's ears perked and he turned to look back. Meanwhile, Marionette backed closer to the curtain, trying to somehow inch out of the conversation.

"You shouldn't be trustin' yer siblings," Foxy reminded, somehow falling back into character. Though this harsh tone was followed by a meek one. "All they'll do is hurt you."

"Oh Foxy…" Marionette sympathized, moving in closer once more. "Foxy, don't do that."

"I don't trust any  _sister_ of ours," the pirate retorted as he suddenly changed tactics. "A lying wench in a fall apart body- Yer words before were enough, Marion. We know who she is."

"That's why I have no plans to go down there and offer her help. Not again," the Puppet firmly stated to his older sibling. "I am going to get her off my case and out of my head. This is for me," he insisted, pressing his hand to his chest.

"…Then I'll be by yer side," Foxy insisted with a nod. Marionette chimed and smiled more honestly. "Tell first mate Jeremy that we'll need the van. I ain't squeezing in the back of a car," Foxy continued and suddenly Marionette went quiet. He tilted his head in confusion, baffled that the fox was suggesting that he intended on coming. "Oh what? You said it be safe! If it be safe, then Ol Foxy'll can come. Right, Lad?" So, it was some sort of test. That smugness in Foxy's voice only proved it. Marionette rolled his eyes, though it wasn't visible.

"There's something about a pot and a kettle that I could mention here, but I think it would save us both time if I just agreed," Marionette quipped as he went to leave. In the last moment, he was caught around the middle by a strong arm.

"Ah, that's the spirit, Lad! We be makin' this into a real adventure as of yet!" Foxy announced with a chuckle, perhaps a prerecorded one, as he tugged in the Puppet closer. "Now Big Brother Foxy can keep an eye on ya."

"Literally one eye?" Marionette asked back, semi-playfully.

"Give 'er take a patch," Foxy responded, lifting his patch to reveal his second, perfectly fine eye underneath. That was his confirmation though; he was definitely coming and, surprisingly, this made Marionette feel a bit better. By time he slipped out of the curtain again, the human companions were still discussing a plan. Unfortunately, Marionette walked in on one of Mike's less agreeable suggestions.

"Should we call Phone Guy?" Mike suggested. "He might have some input of some kind. It's not much, but it could always help. We all know he was in bed with Afton for a while." The security guard meant it as a term and not literally, but it still triggered laughter out of Foxy, and this triggered annoyance from Marionette. Mike glanced back, noticing the intrusion by the fox, and smirked. "Get your head out of the gutter, Foxy, you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean, Lad," Foxy called over, striding off towards the Prize Corner. "But do  _you_  know what you mean?" After this vague comment, he was gone.

Mike wasn't exactly sure what that was supposed to mean, but before he could question it he felt hands on his shoulders. Marionette was being surprisingly bold considering that they were in a room full of people. The security guard didn't shrug him off, he wouldn't even imagine it, and instead waited for what was coming.

"Mike, we don't need  _him_ ," Marionette remarked as he lightly squeezed his shoulders. "He's unreliable. He couldn't even do his job when he had it."

"Someone sounds a little bitter," Mike pointed out and looked back with amusement. "Or a little jealous. Worried that we'll get a replacement guide?" He just couldn't take this seriously and the Puppet resisted the urge to frown at him. He couldn't let that happen while still in the pizzeria, however, or he would risk being seen.

"I'd have more confidence in Foxy guiding you," Marionette quipped down at him.

"If Foxy was coming, which he's not," Mike answered and reached for his soda. Marionette was only more amused by the human's comment.

"Is that so? He seems to be under that impression." Mike paused midway through his drink and the Puppet dared to lean down and whisper to him.

"You're positively  _adorable_  when you're flustered," he quipped low enough that the others couldn't hear.

"We're not alone," Mike quietly reminded. His shock slowly turned into a smile once again. He chuckled lowly, "So try to keep the flirting to a minimal."

This only riled Marionette more as he plucked off the male's hat. He then rested his head against Mike's, pressing into his dark locks. He couldn't help but be somewhat affectionate, even if in public, because he loved Mike so.

And because he was absolutely  _terrified_ of what would happen once he took Mike back into Afton's.

"I hope you're kidding," Fritz broke in and both looked over, unabashedly guilty. "Foxy's really wanting to go?" the technician inquired in unease. Marionette nodded and Fritz let his head drop into his hand. "Then that's it. I have to go…" Then he immediately perked, "But maybe I can use that Handunit finally." He stood and hurried off while Natalie scoffed.

"The forecast calls for two to three weeks of obsessing over that oversized cellphone screen," Natalie remarked with a sigh. "Mike, if you could, try to see that it doesn't come back with him."

"I'm going to make sure with every bit of my power that nothing comes back with us," Mike remarked and leaned back a bit more. Marionette was very obviously holding onto him and he suspected that everyone was more ignoring it than not noticing it. "Even this one, if I can," he gestured back to Marionette. "He keeps stealing my hat and it was never funny." To accentuate the human's point, the Puppet playfully put on the hat himself, and refused to move from where he was.

"You're not fooling anyone, Mike. You'd be a mess without having someone to keep you in line," Natalie playfully teased with her smile returning. "Both of you keep an eye on him, will you? You too, Jeremy. Be careful."

"Foxy'll keep him in line," Mike added in with a smirk towards Jeremy. Jeremy immediately looked back in confusion at the unexpected insinuation.  _"Eh, I'm overcompensating,"_ the security guard mentally accessed as Fritz returned to the able.

"Okay, so I've got this," he set down the hand unit. "I've got Phone Guy's number and know his name. I doubt he's going to be willing to do this considering... You know, the leg," he paused with a cough. "But I'll try and we'll see where it goes. This is going to be our last trip anyway." This comment was more of an assertion than anything. He was putting his foot down; he wouldn't go back a third time.

With that, it was in agreement. They would head to Afton's Robotics for one last time.

With all this planned, it still was a few days before they executed the plan. They waited until the days when they weren't open, waited until evening, and collected everything that they would need.

As much as the others suspected it was overkill, Mike was confident in his choice of 'weapons' that he had brought. This time he skipped a crowbar and went straight to a hatchet. Thankfully, Fredrick kept one in his closet- which was both unnerving and understandable. The taser was also kept attached to his belt. Fritz had a second one, a newer one, but Mike knew the one he had used before would still work.

They took three cars this time. This almost seemed like overkill, but it had been insisted by Fritz that more cars would look less suspicious. Mike didn't know if he agreed with this, but he didn't argue with it. As long as they could get out quickly, and escape any possible law enforcement or security guards, he wouldn't argue. He pulled into the parking lot before the other two could arrive and noticed a car already there. It only took him a few moments to recognize it as Phone Guy's car.

" _I'll be damned. I didn't think he was going to show…"_ Mike pulled into a parking spot about six spaces away, not wanting to cluster and risk more suspicion. "I'll be right back. Don't worry, I'm not going in until Jeremy and Fritz get here," he forewarned as he opened the car door. There was a peal of static from the back seat.

"It's  _him_ , isn't it?" Marionette lightly accused as he slipped further under the blanket in the back seat. Mike didn't know whether to laugh at his tantrum or roll his eyes at it.

"No, it's Foxy. He decided to just sprint his way over here," Mike sarcastically quipped as he stepped out. "Wait here. It's not dark enough for you to risk being seen outside," he forewarned before shutting the door. The last thing they needed was the Puppet trying to strangle Phone Guy in the parking lot. He didn't know what he had against Phone Guy…

His stride slowed down as he let that settle in. "What does he know about Phone Guy?" Mike asked himself, his voice hushed as he suddenly saw the situation in a new light. Marionette had shown that he held little ill will towards night guards. While it took him some time to trust, he was willing to let the past be forgotten and learned to work with them. The only exception was Phone Guy. Marionette neither trusted nor wanted to trust the man, and there was obviously some sort of ill will there. Something had obviously happened.

As Mike approached, the car window inched downwards. Phone Guy himself looked absolutely scared stiff. He was rather pale and looked like he had been sweating, with an almost distant look in his eyes as he looked upwards at his fellow night guard. It was obvious that getting him out here was a miracle.

"H-Hey," Phone Guy began, giving a nervous swallow. "Fritz isn't with you?"

"He's coming. Something about us taking three cars and wasting as much gas as humanly possible," Mike quipped back. "Are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. I just… Here." The man started going into the cubby between the seats and pulled out a radio. "Cell phones probably won't work down there, but I know these do. They're a little more reliable," he explained as he handed one over. "Now, I'm not going in with you, but I can call you if someone appears."

"Why would anyone appear? This place is abandoned, right?" Mike asked in semi-confusion. "I basically walked in the first time."

"And you'll walk in again… But I- I don't trust that it's abandoned. There could be a night guard or something…" He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Even though William's gone, I don't trust this place. He couldn't have been the only person keeping things in order…" Phone Guy looked at the building and scanned over it quickly. "Then again, it doesn't look like it."

Mike sent a leer at the building, less than impressed with it, and continue. "But thanks for this. Maybe you'll be able to help if we get stuck behind any password or anything."

"I can try," Phone Guy assured. "Just try not to be in there too long… On a completely different topic, would you like a kitten?" Mike's confused face gaze away his immediate feelings. "My cat's having kittens soon. It'll be a while before they'll be ready for homes, but I'm trying to get a jumpstart."

"I'll… Think about it," he dismissed. Mike considered asking Phone Guy about the Puppet. However, he soon decided against this, as it would eventually lead to him pointing out that the animatronic was in the vicinity. The older man already looked like he was about to have a heart attack like Fredrick had. He even looked just as sweaty as Fredrick usually did, but Fredrick usually had a flushed look instead of a paled one. Come to think of it, Fredrick looked like he was always a few minutes from having a heart attack.

After a few more words, Mike headed back to sit in his car and wait for Fritz and Jeremy to appear. He only paused a moment before going ahead with confronting the animatronic, as he knew he didn't have very long. "Can I ask you something without you dodging the question?" Mike directed into the backseat and the blanket shifted.

"Of course, Mike. I would tell you anything you wanted to know," Marionette responded honestly. He slid down behind Mike's seat and the human could feel him moving against or leaning on the back of it.

"Want to tell me why you hate Phone Guy so much?" Mike asked bluntly before turning to look over the back of the seat partially. "Be honest with me. Did something happen that you've never told me about? If there is, then I want to know now, before I start know Phone Guy on a first name basis." He paused before looking forwards again, "Or actually learn his name."

At first, Marionette stayed incredibly quiet. Then, slowly, he turned himself a bit, made a static noise of discontent, and finally spoke.

"It's not what he did. It is what he didn't do…" The animatronic paused and then continued. "I didn't want to become friendly with adult humans. You changed that; you've been the catalyst to many of my recent behavioral changes… But at the time that he and I worked in a proximity, I couldn't even stand to be in the same room with a night guard. So much purple… But I've grown a bit more comfortable with it now…" His hand slipped around the seat and rested on Mike's arm. While Mike wasn't wearing the rest of his uniform, other than the belt, he was wearing his jacket.

"But Freddy's was still dangerous.  _He_ was still alive and he was always there, always ready to pounce and kill. That man, who was always on the phone, had habits that were very telling. It was because of this that I started to realize that he wasn't the Purple Man. While the others didn't believe me, nor could they stop themselves if they did, I began to notice that there was at least one security guard who wasn't hurting children…" His hand tightened on Mike's arm. "But he  _couldn't do his job._ "

"What happened?" Mike rested his hand atop Marionette's.

"One night I was… Desperate for assistance. He was back, the Purple Man, and I knew he was going to do something terrible. I was still young and… Frightened, I'll admit. The backroom was locked and the older animatronics, Foxy and Freddy and so on, were out of my reach. The Toy animatronics, my fellow workers, were unresponsive… I had one last option, and that was the security guard, the man on the phone… I went to his office and, while I was stuck in place by his gaze, I tried to show him that I meant no harm…"

Marionette shuddered and the static increased, along with an increase in the radio-like noises. "But he did  _nothing_. Even when I left, he did  _nothing_. He didn't do rounds, he didn't come to see what was happening- He cowered in his office like a coward… And it was Toy Foxy that paid the price." The anger suddenly switched to regret with an out of tune chime. "I know he didn't kill the children, but that silence was prevalent, except when he was on the phone. How could he be there so long and see nothing? How can he live with himself when he kept their secrets?"

Before Mike could respond, Marionette continued with a quiet reveal. "Though, knowing what I do now, I do wish that I could've controlled myself when I heard him explaining about Afton. Not because I don't think he deserved at least a little bit of a jump, but it doesn't feel nearly justified now that I know about his missing limb."

"Yeah. Not as fun to knock around a guy with a fake leg, am I right?" Mike scoffed in a joking fashion. His hand then tightened on Marionette's, "I'm not going to defend him. I don't know why he stood aside and did nothing… But I honestly think he's a decent enough guy. I think most of his actions are controlled by fear. Does that make him a coward? Maybe. Depends on if we're talking past Phone Guy or present day Phone Guy." He gently stroked the Puppet's hand and listened as the static lessened.

"That's true… But that does still makes him a coward," Marionette quipped. "And even now, what has he offered to do to help? I doubt he's coming with us, so what does he plan to do?"

"He plans on dumping some ugly kittens off on whoever's in the vicinity," Mike quipped. Marionette sent a blank stare at the back of the chair and Mike, as though feeling it, elaborated. "One cat's bald and the other's got seven or eight toes on each foot. Either way, these kittens are coming out weird. I can't even imagine what would happen if they bred together." He wanted the subject changed; there was no reason to already be distraught before going into Afton's.

"…I love kittens." While normally this would seem like a random comment, Mike knew Marionette was making a hinted suggestion.

"Meh, not really a cat person," Mike answered with a non-committal shrug.

"Puppies?" "Meh, not really a dog person." "Weasels?"

"Not a- What would that be, a ferret?" Mike inquired, not even entirely certain if one could buy a 'weasel'. "Not exactly a ferret person either."

"Mike," Marionette began with a firm tone. "I think you purposely tempted me with the prospect of kittens to make me forget how much I loathe that man, but it's not going to work if I don't get the kitten afterwards." As flat as his voice sounded, there was obviously amusement. Though Mike's attention briefly wandered as he noticed the Freddy van pull in.

"Fritz and Foxy are here. We're going to have to head in soon…" The security guard squeezed his hand again. "If I die down there, make sure nobody does anything weird with my body."

"What about me? Could I at least stuff you and puppeteer you around the house?" Marionette playfully offered.

"Go nuts. Remember to bathe me every couple of days," Mike suggested before stepping out of the car and going to help Fritz. There wasn't exactly much to help Fritz with; Foxy was more than capable of stepping out of the back of a van by himself, tarp and all. By time they made it to the front door, Jeremy was also in the parking lot as well. With everyone together, it was only a matter of entering the building, which was again remarkably easy, and heading to the elevator.

Fritz somehow plugged in the hand unit to a jack near the keypad and then turned it on. "Let's see what we can pick up…" he murmured as he fidgeted with it.

"How far down is this?" Foxy asked, fidgeting around in the back. The feeling of the elevator disoriented him, but this was the same for Marionette, who was leaning against the wall instead of hovering.

"I'm pretty sure there's only nine circles of hell, so we're probably heading to seven or eight," Mike quipped matter-of-factly. "We lost access to nine when Purple Man died."

"Aye, what a shame," Foxy sardonically. "Bottom floor is probably just a bunch o' bodies." There were a few mixed looks; exasperation from Marionette, blankness from Mike, and alarm from Jeremy. Fritz was still enraptured by the handunit on the other side of the elevator. "Let's not play around. We know there's something worth seeing down there."

"And that's great, but we're never going down there," Marionette clarified a bit more firmly.

"Alright, alright, don't get your strings wrapped up," Foxy answered in defense. "Just wonderin'. Ain't like we don't have time if you're gonna be back there chewin' blubber with our 'sister'." The way he worded it only clarified how doubtful he was in Baby. In a way, Marionette shared that exact feeling.

Then a new voice suddenly broke in.  _"Welcome back to your last day on the job,"_

"Let's hope that's not a bad sign," Fritz called back over the voice of the keypad.

The Handunit didn't halt,  _"That is, the last day of your first week! Some of the most valued- we like to see- fearlessness and a genuine- instinctive self-preservation."_  Almost immediately, the Handunit began to glitch and jump through dialogue. With a huff, Fritz started to pop open the back of the machine once again. " _-containing fruit, nuts, flowers, and of course the ever-popular cash-basket."_

"Don't buy anything," Mike quipped in.

"I think the choice is out of my hands," Fritz noted as he looked at the screen that was now displaying a keypad. "I think it wants my credit card information."

"Hey, maybe the bottom floor is full of gift baskets?" Jeremy quietly offered to Foxy, who looked perplexed by the mention of 'gift baskets' in general.

"Always knew they were payin' off workers, but I thought it was with real booty. Not flowery stuff and fruit," Foxy pointed out. They hadn't even stopped yet and already he was entirely confused about the situation.

"They were, Foxy. The cash basket," Marionette pointed out. "…Which begs the question why they didn't just ask for a raise."

"Fredrick wouldn't have given a raise if his life depended on it," Mike pointed out. "I asked twice and both times he started dropping 'pink slip' into the conversation." He fell silent as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Now they were staring down at a gaping vent and Mike's brows shot up. "I forgot about the vent. Foxy-?"

"I'll fit," Foxy insisted. It didn't look like he could, but his voice made sure to show that his decision was final.

Fritz unplugged the Handunit from the wall, but it seemed to still be somewhat functioning. If anything, unplugging the Handunit triggered it to break out of its glitch.  _"Please be aware that there are still two technicians on-site today. Try to avoid interfering with their work if possible,"_ the Handunit forewarned.  _"Also, feel free to ask them why they are still there, and encourage them to go home."_

"So, there is someone else down here… Unless, hold on-." Mike brought out the radio, "I got this from Phone Guy. Let me just see if he sees any other cars or anything." Nobody argued and they stayed silent as he flicked the radio on. "Hey, you there?" After a moment, there was a response of a typical, and expected, 'hello, hello'. "We've got a- What were we calling it, just 'handunit'?... We've got a handunit down here that's saying there's technicians in the building and on the current floor. Got any advice?"

"There's nobody up here… Is it an old recording or a new one? A lot of those recordings are reused," Phone Guy pointed out. Mike looked to Fritz who then looked over the handunit.

"It's pretty possible. It did say it was the final night of our first week, that's obviously wrong," the technician accessed. He made sure to say it loud enough for the radio. "But this quote at the end was added on."

"I'd just say it's an old recording and not worry about it. If there were technicians down there, the main lights would be on. The parking lot lights aren't even on," Phone Guy pointed out. "You don't want to know how dark it is out here…" The sound of his car locking could be plainly heard.

"Alright, then we'll be heading in. We'll keep you posted," Mike finished as he shut off the radio. There was a discontent hum of static from Marionette while Foxy took a step closer.

"Haven't heard that voice in a while… Wasn't he that landlubber that was always going on and on?" Foxy looked to Marionette for confirmation and received a slight nod. "Ah, I 'member him… Dad  _loved_ him." If Mike and Jeremy didn't know better, they would've said that Foxy smirked. Marionette responded with brushing past him, obviously unimpressed.

"Let's just find Baby and the Minireenas. We don't have time to waste," the Puppet took charge as he prepared to move by. He was abruptly stopped by Mike reaching out and stopping him.

"Whoa, wait…" Mike slowly looked to the Puppet. "You said that you didn't like Phone Guy because of Toy Foxy…" He got a growing smirk, "But that's not entirely true, is it?"

"That was true," Marionette denied. "He let Toy Foxy get mangled."

"Maybe so, but that's not the full story, is it?" Mike pointed out and Marionette turned his head just enough to show that he was averting his gaze. "Was there something going on between him and one of your possible fathers or…?" Almost immediately, Mike suddenly realized exactly who they were talking about. As though it suddenly sunk in what Foxy was smirking about. "…Excuse me while I pretend that I never brought up that train of thought." The security guard turned and let it drop immediately.

Without another word, Marionette slipped into the vent and immediately vanished. Mike shined his light down the shaft and followed, with Fritz behind him. Jeremy and Foxy followed back further.

" _Allow me to fill this somewhat frightening silence with some light-hearted banter,"_ Handunit randomly volunteered, as though triggered by entering the vent.

"Put a muzzle on that thing, will you?" Mike called back to Fritz who gave a noncommittal shrug. He tried to fidget with pad as he continued through the vent.

" _Due to the massive success- Fazbear's Pizza, it was clear that- pun intended- for another contender in children's- entertainment venues, our robotic entertainers are rented out for private- job to get the robots back in proper working order before the following morning. And it's your job to get the robots back in proper working order before the following morning."_

"It's just getting worse," Fritz muttered as he fumbled with the keypad. It had now started repeating 'and it's your job' and so on. "This must be what madness feels like." Only now had he noticed that Mike had only quickened his movement and blew out of the vent as fast as possible. Now standing in the main control room, Mike looked to the patiently waiting Marionette.

"I know the lights were dead back there, but I'm going to be in the Circus Control while you're talking with her. I don't trust letting you out of sight," he forewarned. He could already feel the protectiveness starting to sink in and knew this was the only option.

"I'm not sure if that is a good idea. If she sees you… I wouldn't let her hurt you, but if she sees you then she may become aggressive," Marionette pointed out with worry briefly passing his expression.

"Then we should probably figure that out sooner than later, right?" Mike hinted, somewhat noticing Fritz climbing out before reaching back in to help Foxy and Jeremy out. "I could be bait and we could see how much she's 'changed'."

"…Perhaps…" It made sense and seemed to be a good plan, but Marionette wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to put Mike into her line of sight. "…We can try it. Keep your taser close…" He then started to approach the vent. Mike looked back to Fritz and gave a quick recap.

"We're going over into the Circus Control. You and the others should stay around here. The Minireenas are probably over in the Ballora Gallery if you want to pick them up," Mike thumbed over towards the window before heading to the vent. "I'm taking Phone Guy with me."

"One of these days, you're going to have to learn his name," Fritz forewarned as Mike climbed into the next vent. "Be careful, okay? Watch where you step."

"Will do. Same goes with you three," Mike managed out before he followed the Puppet into the next room. Fritz turned his attention to Foxy who was standing, rubbing at his shoulder. Jeremy followed in right behind him. The technician decided to take some form of charge at this point.

"We should probably head into the Ballora Gallery first. That's where the Minireenas will be," Fritz suggested and while Jeremy looked eager, Foxy had a slightly less interested look. He looked over at the over window and noticed the poster nearby.

"What is this?" Foxy asked with a growing interest as he approached the poster and focused in on it. Obviously, it was another sort of foxy. "Toy Foxy?"

"Funtime Foxy," Jeremy corrected as he sprung over to stand beside him. "I-I thought it was Mangle- Toy Foxy too, but it's not. I don't even know if it's still down here." Foxy's focus only intensified and he looked to the vent. "Come along, Lad. We'll go see for ourselves." He knelt in front of the open vent before struggling to fit in.

Jeremy gawked after him, "But the Minireenas- Foxy- Captain, we can't just go- Fritz?" The younger looked to Fritz with exasperation. "Fritz, he can't be left alone. Would you-?"

"Nope," Fritz immediately answered. "I'll go look for the Minireenas, but I draw the line on adventuring with Foxy. I'm bound to not be able to get him back."

Jeremy's look was full of alarm, "And I'm going to be able to get him back? I-I don't know if you noticed how assertive Foxy is-!" His voice switched to a whisper, "He really thinks he's a captain."

"Yeah, but he's easy on you. Roll with it," Fritz recommended. "I'll do you the favor of looking for the Minireenas in the Gallery and you can keep an eye on Foxy. Deal?" Above all, Fritz did seem to look like he believed Jeremy was capable of handling Foxy. Jeremy, however, was less than certain of if he could manage this on his own.

"…Okay, just… Don't tase any of them, please. If they get rowdy, grab them around the middle. It should relax them a little," Jeremy tried to explain, stalling before having to go into the vent. "…What if Funtime Foxy's in there?"

"All the animatronics were destroyed, remember?... Or taken apart, or something like that. If Funtime Foxy's in there, she or he is probably in pieces," Fritz reassured and placed a hand on his shoulder and lightly shaking him. "Just stay close to Foxy. If something comes after you, have him chew it to death." Jeremy stiffly nodded and Fritz turned to crawl into the next vent. With him leaving and no other options at hand, Jeremy headed into the other vent after Foxy. He could only hope that this wasn't a mistake.

* * *

"Hey," Mike began and he looked to Marionette. "You don't have to do this." The Puppet leaned against the control panel and stared down at the multitude of buttons. None of them labelled, most of them a mystery, and most of them probably not working any longer. "If you just want to leave, I'm not going to hold it again you."

"No, I'm fine," Marionette assured as he straightened. "She already knows I'm here. If I leave now, she'll only return to my dreams once more." He turned to face the human, "So I must face her."

"I'm just giving you an out. It's easier to do when you know there's an out," Mike assured. He played with the ideas of how he would continue this, then uncrossed his arms and laid his hands on the Puppets' shoulders. "I'll be here if you need me to dive through the floor and start swing a hatchet around," he pointed out and pulled the animatronic closer. Marionette eagerly moved into his grasp. "She can't see us, can she?"

"I don't feel her gaze, so no. Not that I would care," Marionette pointed out and held the man tighter.

"You've got to admit, that would be a hard conversation to have," Mike pointed out as he slowly, extremely slowly, released his grip. "And again, I'll be behind the windows, so try to talk loudly."

"I would be pleasantly surprised if we didn't break down into yelling," the animatronic quipped in. He leaned forwards one more time to press his porcelain cheek against Mike's. Then, midway through this affectionate gesture, he vanished-

-And appeared inside of the Circus Gallery. His eye alit as he glanced around the room, seeing better in the dark and soon locating a still body in the back. It was Circus Baby, somewhat slouched forwards, and suspicion filled him as he approached.  _"Did she lie?"_ he wondered as he moved in closer. Then, a few feet away from her, she suddenly started to straighten as her eyes glowed to life. Not sheer pinpricks of light, but fully illuminated as her body roused itself. She looked to him, her faceplates fidgeting with a soft whirring sound, and spoke.

"You came back…" Baby's voice was soft, but familiar. "I didn't think that you would return."

"I told you that I would," Marionette pointed out. He stood his ground, literally touching the floor, and kept his voice even and empty. He would stay firm with her.

"You did, but I worried that you would change your mind. I wouldn't imagine anyone daring to return here… But you aren't just anyone, are you?" Baby asked without seeking an answer. "But here we are. I am back in my body again and everything's as it should be."

"Where are the others?" Marionette inquired, looking around suspiciously.

"I'm not certain. They wanted to stay together after I decided to return to my body, so they could be anywhere… I will be honest with you. I brought you here for me, not for them." Baby's voice lowered to a quieter tone. "I need you to help me leave this place."

"I only supposed as much," the Puppet remarked, turning his body absentmindedly as he continued scanning the room. "But am I supposed to forget what you did?"

"What I did was only one out of desperation. I don't want to hurt anybody anymore. I never wanted to do the things that he made the others do," Baby admitted with a bit of audible shame in her voice. "But he's always wanted us to hurt. He made this place to be a prison; he created us only to torment us." Marionette knew that she meant William Afton, but wasn't sure whether to point out their relation. If she did, her reaction could be like his own, and that would lead to unneeded misery.

"He would destroy us over and over again. Then he would put us back together and put us on stage, take us far away to other buildings and other parties, but we would always be brought back here. There is no way out of this horrible place. Even with him gone, we can never leave," Baby explained her plight. As terrible as it sounded, Marionette's suspicion mellowed his sympathy. Something didn't make sense.

"Maybe that's for the best…" When Baby's head suddenly flinched, as though surprised, Marionette elaborated. "I saw what was written in the blueprints. I don't know if you're aware, but your fellow animatronics are programmed with terrible things. They weren't created to perform for children. They were created to kidnap them… Or worse, though currently I can only conclude the former." The way that Baby stared almost seemed convincing. It was almost as though she didn't know this. "William Afton hurt many children."

"Children… Why would someone… Create us to hurt children?" Baby inquired, genuinely confused. "Why would anyone want to hurt a… a single child?"

"That is something he took to the grave. Even if he hadn't, I couldn't imagine a plausible answer. He was simply a terrible  _monster_ ," Marionette then changed his tone to address Baby again. "But you and your friends are dangerous beyond that. Such as, while you weren't created with the means to kidnap children- you're the only one who didn't have that branding on your blueprints- you were willing to kill a human, my human companion, to use his body." His anger finally started to appear. "How can I trust you after that?"

"We weren't wanting to kill him. We just needed him to help us leave," Baby tried to explain, keeping her voice soft.

"Perhaps you have forgotten that humans and animatronics are not the same. I have seen animatronics that would've been destroyed by that machine; a human body could never survive." Marionette's gaze narrowed and his smile vanished. "And I know you have done it before… I will selfishly admit that your attack on Mike was more significant to me, but regardless- How can you be trusted around any human being, adult or child? How could I justify letting you go?"

"I wouldn't hurt anyone else! I just wanted one body to escape," Baby promised with submission in her voice. "All of our past escapes were thwarted. I had no choice-."

"I asked you not to, I gave you an out, and you did what you wanted," Marionette bitterly snapped back at her. His voice was filled with venom and, while unlike his usual demeanor, he found that he couldn't suppress it. "I don't feel badly for tricking you. At first, yes, I regretted hurting you… But I did what I had to. I warned you that I wasn't going to let you hurt him, but you were so stuck on what you thought was a viable option. Which it wasn't; a human body would last, what, five days after being 'scooped'? A damaged body wouldn't last longer."

The guilt was still there. Marionette lied when he said he didn't feel badly, as he did, but he also knew that he had done what he had to. Mike would've died and Baby's group would've survived regardless. A silence overtook the room as the Puppet stared down the female clown. Both animatronics were stranded in this suspension.

"…But I don't think this is all your fault," Marionette admitted. "I do think that Afton made you like this. Maybe someday you will fight the programming he put into you, but for now… It consumes you." He turned away and waited for a response.

"And you were able to suppress your programming? What he put inside of you?" Baby inquired with almost a curiosity. There was something else, something a bit more accusatory there too.

"Afton may have had a role in creating my human body, but my current form, this body, was untouched by him. As far as I'm concerned, I lost his tainted touch when I became an animatronic," Marionette explained. He didn't expect her to counter.

"Are you certain?" Before he could reassure her, she continued with a different sort of observation. "I couldn't help but notice the resemblance that we share. Nor the resemblance you share with the others." Marionette slowly looked back to her, staring at her, and she continued. "Your pinkened cheeks, your mask, your more human-like appearance… Though you would look closer to Ballora and I than the others, it's clearly there. The Minireenas are your spitting image, without the face paint."

He was about to deny this when a shudder suddenly ran along his spine. For a split second his mind went to the other Toy animatronics and he realized that, yes, the resemblance was uncanny. Toy Foxy and Funtime Foxy looked extremely similar, and this almost immediately sent him into a spiral of panic.

The truth was, Marionette didn't know where his body was created before he became the Puppet. With his mind going back to the rooms, the one that resembled his home, the walk he would take from the Pizzeria, it suddenly dawned on him that not knowing this information could be hiding something terrible. Baby had unknowingly revealed a terrible truth while trying to elicit his kinship.

He needed answers and he needed them  _now_.


	53. Chapter 53

Mike had only heard a little of the conversation between Marionette and Baby. It was impossible to see much through the windows, but he could see the female animatronic's illuminating eyes. Though there was absolutely no signal that the conversation was ending until the sudden 'pulse' in the room. Marionette had teleported into the Circus Control suddenly and almost erratically. Mike had never been able to feel the Puppet teleport this strongly. He looked back at the being who was, tellingly, not willing to face him.

"Come with me," he immediately beckoned before slipping into the vent. Mike followed immediately behind him.

"Is this a 'we're running for our lives' sort of thing?" the security guard called after him. "Because I'd prefer to find out before something crawls after me." The Puppet didn't answer and he took this as being a negative. He would warn him if they were being hunted; this was something else. Once in the Primary Control Room, Mike was able to witness how erratic Marionette was acting. His arms kept moving, kept fidgeting; crossed, uncrossed, rubbing each other, going limp, and he was surprised that 'London Bridge' wasn't blaring from somewhere.

"What's going on? What did she say?" The defense returned on schedule. Suddenly Mike felt the need to overprotect him once more. Whatever Baby had said, he was ready to strike it down.

"Baby pointed out something very peculiar…" Marionette led in before turning to face Mike. He looked extremely concerned about whatever it was. "Mike, be honest with me… Do the Toy animatronics resemble the animatronics down here? I know you've seen little of the other Toys, but you've seen enough. Between their remains and… Myself."

Mike knew he was stepping into a loaded question and proceeded with caution. "If we completely ignore the fact that two of the characters are the same, Freddy and Foxy, then… I don't know, maybe a little, but I think animatronic designs are a little limited. There's only so many ways you can make animatronics look, considering that it's some of the same technology underneath," Mike tried to resolve. "And, hey, you stick with what works. Afton went with what was familiar so that he could make money off the new business."

"That makes sense… But we can't forget that he was still working at Freddy's when the toys were created." At this moment, Marionette calm voice started to falter. "What if he created the toy animatronics? You saw the box, their empty shells, it's almost exactly like these ones were." He gestured his hand out into Ballora Gallery. "We know why these ones came apart so easily, but why did the Toys? Why- Were they taken to the Scooping Room as well? Did Afton dismantle them? We know he dismantled Toy Foxy."

He started to pace and hovered back and forth in the Control Room. It was a short distance, but he continued to do so, growing more agitated. "And the more I try to avoid it, the more I find the links between us. It was bad enough remembering that he was my father, but to think that he created this body-!" His voice broke into static and garbled words. He was a panicked mess and Mike had to physically step in, standing in front of him.

"Let's not overreact about this just yet," he suggested. Marionette paused for only a minute before trying to slip by and continue pacing. He was caught on the arm before he could do so. "Him making your body means nothing if he didn't intend for you to get in it, and considering the bite itself and what happened afterwards, I don't think that was planned. Even these rooms down here that resemble what happened were made after the fact," he insisted. "Nobody would be stupid enough to just assume someone was going to eventually die."

"Maybe not in that sense, but to know he tainted me in this form as well- There could be something, a keyword or sound, that could set me off. I could've been created with a horrible failsafe implemented that I just can't remember!" Marionette gave a pitiful and frustrated look at the ground.

"I doubt that. We would know, Mari. Think about it; we've seen all your quirks in the past. We would've seen a secret child-killing mode at least once," Mike continued to reassure. He could see that the discomfort was not lessened. Marionette simply looked distraught and Mike couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at Baby's role in this. Why would she even bring up where or how Marionette was born? He couldn't ask the Puppet now, so he would only assume that she did it out of some sort of spite.

"But if you're really worried about this, which you are, we can handle this," Mike assured as he got out the radio. He quickly turned it on, "Hey, hey, you there? We could use a little help with some fact checking."

"I'm here, shoot," Phone Guy responded over the line. He sounded a little groggy, as though he had just woken from a nap or the like.

"Do you have any idea whether- the Puppet," he caught himself before he dropped the nickname 'Mari'. It was probably best if he kept things formal with the older man and didn't give up too much of a bias. "-was created by William Afton or not?"

"The Puppet? I… He's not listening, is he?" Phone Guy checked and Mike casually glanced to Marionette, who was very much listening.

"Don't worry about it. What do you know about it?" Mike inquired further.

"Not much, really. The Puppet sort of just appeared when they renovated Freddy's Prize Corner. I know it was one of the Toy animatronics- You know, facial recognition, porcelain bits; they were advanced compared to the original fabric bodies. I'm getting off topic, though. Anyway, I couldn't say who made those ones. You know about Henry Johnson and William Afton; both were working at the time. It could be either of them," Phone Guy explained as best as he could.

"Right. Is there any way to get a concrete answer on this?" Mike asked further, hoping there was a simpler way than guessing.

"Well, yeah. If you could find the Puppet's blueprints it should list the original creator on them," the older casually added in. "You know, they'd probably have those here. Your best bet is to go into the above ground floors and look for some sort of office. If you could find the CEO's office then you would probably have the best bet to find a file cabinet or, better yet, maybe a working computer." This seemed like the best idea and Mike perked at the thought of continuing exploration on the other floors.

"Then that's where we're heading. Thanks," Mike quickly wrapped up and shut off the radio. Then he looked to Marionette, "There we are. We've got a second possibility and a chance at an answer. Let's go see what we can find."

Marionette glanced towards the windows of the Funtime Auditorium, seeing the light of a flashlight from further inside. "What about the others? We will be abandoning them… And there's a possibility of the others still being down here. Baby said that Ennard was still intact down here."

"…Yeah, that's true, but we would be separated either way. The three of them can watch themselves for a couple of minutes," Mike pointed out. He put a hand on his shoulder and steered him to the elevator. "We'll be quick, but we can't let this turn into a nightmare. If we can figure this out, then we should." The Puppet nodded before heading into the elevator. He did pose a question though.

"But what if it does turn out to be true? Physically it won't change anything, but… I don't know. For me, it may change something," Marionette admitted to the human, almost ashamed. He had hoped to stand strong this time, but here he was, weakened by the accusations of another animatronic.

"Worst case scenario, yes, Afton built your body. But he didn't make your body to do with it what you do; he didn't program you with the ability to teleport or to move things with your mind. You did that yourself. I don't know how, but you figured this out on your own," he assured as he pressed the button for the first level. "I doubt there's hidden programming, but if there is then I think you could resist it." To his surprise, Marionette's response was a dry, empty laugh. It was more vocal than chime, just signifying how forced it was.

"I'm nothing but submitting to programming," the Puppet admitted. "Everything I've ever done before- before losing Goldie has been primarily guided by programming, but I don't know whose." The frantic tone returned and he hovered back and forth anxiously, swaying uncomfortably. "Stop the Purple Man, stop all of the purple skinned men, stop the murders, save the children, give gifts, give life,  _give gifts, give life,_ save them, stop them, go here, go there- My strings have always been there, but I lost my puppeteer."

"That's not true and I'm about to prove it," Mike firmly stated. "And stop doing that. You're getting yourself worked up again."

"…I know," Marionette's frustration cooled back to calmness. "It's just that everywhere we look, we seem to find his influence."

"Especially here. Who know he would have such a big impact on the place he owned," Mike tested, teasing lightly.

"I'm being serious," Marionette flatly and tiredly stated.

"I am too. Think about it; anybody could walk in and get immediate evidence of what he's been doing," Mike tsked with a shake of the head. "What a genius; could build animatronics, but couldn't actually dispose of paperwork." He then checked, hoping that it had somewhat amused the Puppet. There wasn't much of a response, so he tried another tactic. "What do you know about Henry? Did you ever meet him?" Mike asked as he put his arm around Marionette and coaxed him closer. The animatronic didn't resist either coaxing.

"I've never met him, but… No… Yes, I have met him," Marionette retracted rather abruptly. "But it was long ago, when I was just a child. He and- he worked at Fredbear's. Of course, he owned both Fredbear's and Freddy's. He even built most of the others. Because he and Afton always fought, I kept a distance from him, being as meek as I was. I always expected that I'd do something wrong and he would snap at me." He seemed to grow more at ease as he talked and turned to press his mask into Mike's shoulder. Though he continued talking as he did so.

"It was a typical day at the restaurant, so I was under a table in the fetal position, hysterical." Mike's look of confusion wasn't lost on him. If anything, he only found it more amusing. "When he came over and coaxed me out. It was already such a rare event; usually people would just stare, but he came to me. He took me into the back, gave me a brownie- I think he said his wife made them- and was just so nice about the whole thing…. It was so surprising to me that someone actually cared."

"He sounded like a nice enough guy," Mike agreed. Though he wouldn't judge someone on one event alone, he wanted to stay positive for Marionette's sake.

"I want to say that I got my Golden Freddy doll from him, but I honestly can't remember if it was from him or my father," Marionette admitted as he started to pull back and looked expectantly towards the front of the elevator. "He was a father too. He had both a son and a daughter that were sometimes at work with him... Maybe that's why he was so concerned about me?" As the doors opened, he fell silent again.

"We've got a fifty-fifty chance of finding out that he built your body," the security guard pointed out as he stepped out of the elevator and glanced around. "So, keep ahold of that thought, okay?" He paused for a moment as he tried to remember where the directory was, but then looked back as he noticed the Puppet lingering in the elevator. "…Mari?"

Finally, Marionette exited the elevator and followed him. "Sorry. I was just lost in thought for moment."

"…You know that we don't have to do this," Mike reminded him. Marionette shook his head.

"I need to know," he insisted.

"I could go alone. It's riskier, but as long as you guard the elevator from Baby's leftovers. I'd prefer not to get jumped this time," he gave a reassuring smile, trying to show that he was confident in going alone. Which he was; he doubted that there would be animatronics running amuck in any sort of office space.

"But then you would lie if you found out that Afton was responsible, wouldn't you?" Marionette playfully accused. At least he was smiling a little bit again.

"Yeah, probably," Mike admitted without any form of denial. In fact, that was part of the reason he would be so keen on going on his own. "Is that a problem?"

"Only if I wasn't coming," the Puppet quipped as he passed by. "I still don't trust Baby, so even if she says the others are 'off somewhere' she could really be covering for them. I won't be intimidated by either."

"I could be intimidated by Baby," Mike admitted. "It's not every day that you run into a seven-foot clown." This managed to get a chime out of Marionette who then started in the direction of the breakers. Mike kept close, but not just for his own good. It wasn't himself who he was worried about.

Fifty-fifty weren't exactly good odds.

* * *

After checking the map that Marionette had drawn for him so long ago, Fritz concluded that the door in front of him wasn't supposed to exist. Yet here it was, awkwardly planted on the wall of the Ballora Gallery. It wasn't like a normal door, but instead extremely narrow and had a metal texture more like a vent than to the doors located in the vicinity. After a few moments of staring, considering his options, Fritz tried the door and found it willing to open. It was a little rusty, but gave little resistance.

Considering that he hadn't had any luck finding any of the Minireenas, it seemed possible that they were located behind this door. He opened the strange door and started to head down the thin corridor. The further he went inside, the more he began to believe that it was a maintenance hatch.

" _Warning, you are entering an unauthorized area. Please return to your assigned station and begin your duties for the night,"_ the Handunit forewarned as Fritz took a corner and continued through. It was then that he noticed another door like the one before and stepped through. Now he was standing in the last place he suspected; a hallway. Not a metal hallway or an office hallway, but one that looked remarkably like a home's hallway. There was carpet, soft colored wallpaper, and sending a beam of light down the hall revealed a chair posed at the end.

Sitting on the chair was a couple of dolls, though he didn't immediately pay attention to them. Instead, he sent his light into the four doors that lined the hallway. To his confusion, however, they didn't go anywhere. They were only the size of closets and didn't have anything inside. He took a few steps down the hallway.

" _Observation room three is currently out of order. If you are not the technician on call, please turn back and return to the Ballora Gallery. If you are the technician assigned to repairs on observation room three, please enter the five-digit code provided to you."_ Fritz ignored the order and peered at the chair. There sat the two dolls. One looked almost like Spring Bonnie, but was a small, plush toy version. The second looked to be a Minireena, but neither of them were moving. Instead, they seemed to be holding onto each other.

" _If the code isn't entered in the next thirty to forty seconds, security will be contacted. Please input the code or exit into the Ballora Gallery,"_ the Handunit continued. Now Fritz was paying attention. He looked to the keypad, at the flickering letters, not numbers, and his mind scrambled.

"Damn it! Uh…" Fritz waited for each letter to appear and disappear, and systematically typed in one letter at a time until the five letters for 'Afton' had been spelled out. "Please work…" the technician murmured as the Handunit paused to load the password. Then it spoke again.

" _Password accepted. Thank you for your hard work,"_ the Handunit announced before falling silent. Fritz gave a relieved sigh and looked forwards again. Almost immediately, his relieved sigh turned to a choke of panic. As suddenly, without him even seeing it, the two dolls had climbed off the chair and vanished somewhere else. He backed down the hall immediately, shining his light over the doors in the hall and seeing nothing view. They were gone without a trace and he backed until his back bumped the wall.

He was tempted to leave, immediately, and not risk any run in with the dolls… But he knew that he needed to gather the Minireenas. With a shudder, he turned off the flashlight and waited, hoping to lure the Minireena out of the dark. After a few seconds, he could hear a soft scampering noise and turned the flashlight back on out of reflex. He caught a glimpse of yellow before it dipped into the closer of the left doors. It had almost worked, but it seemed to be luring out the Bonnie-looking toy, not the Minireena.

Regardless, he tried the method a second time. He shut off the flashlight and waited for the sound of scurrying on the floor. Then he flicked the light back on. The bonnie toy dropped where it had stood and now sat on the floor, faking deactivation. Fritz didn't buy it for a second, but he did creep a little closer and crouched down in front of it.

"What are you even supposed to be…?" the technician inquired as he reached forwards to nudge at the being with the end of the Handunit. It was in this moment that, suddenly, something sprung out of the closest door and leapt onto his body. He immediately recognized it as the Minireena, which was now trying to climb his chest. He dropped the Handunit and went to grab at the Minireena, trying to get his flashlight wielding hand between them. Suddenly, the small bonnie decided that it was done faking and sprung to life.

It rushed forwards and Fritz now used his free hand to hold it back on its chest. This lasted for only a moment before it somehow managed to turn its head downwards and bite down on his fingers. The technician choked out a cry and yanked his hand back. Then he made an immediate decision; it just wasn't worth it.

Shoving the Minireena off, he grabbed the Handunit and stood. While the small Bonnie was briefly distracted by the fallen doll, Fritz hurried through the door and slammed it behind him. it had been a total mistake. His fingers were bloodied, he failed to grab the one Minireena he did find, and he was now squeezing through the hall again with less of a clue about what was going on.

" _It seems that you have left Observation Room Three without completing your repairs. Please return to Observation Room Three."_

"I swear, one more word and I'm leaving you down here," Fritz threatened as he stepped through the next hatch door and back into the Ballora Gallery. He paused there, looking around at the empty room with his flashlight, before turning on the Handunit. "Let's see if you can do something useful…" he murmured as he started to tap on the screen, looking for a response of some kind. Eventually, the Handunit responded.

" _I can answer any question about your job. Excluding any questions containing sensitive materials, unauthorized content, or details on coworkers,"_ the Handunit recited.  _"Please state your question clearly."_

"Where are the Minireenas?" Fritz inquired. Normally, he wouldn't assume that something like the Handunit would know this. However, it seemed to be registering what rooms they were entering, so he assumed that it could possibly locate nearby animatronics.

" _Accessing animatronic 'Minireena A'. Minireena A has not been reported to need maintenance. If you would like to see the blueprint, say 'blueprint'. If you would like to see the rules and regulations for prize dispersal and odds, please say 'regulations'. If you would like to report an error with Minireena A, say 'error' and follow after the beep with a summary of the error."_

"That's not…" Fritz reconsidered his answer and then attempted a different command. "Minireena A location."

" _According to my data, it seems that there are no current rentals for Ballora and the Minireenas,"_ the Handunit incorrectly answered. Fritz gave a frustrated huff that was interrupted by the banging on the door behind him. Somehow, the Bonnie and the Minireena had gotten through the other door and were now banging on this one. He grumbled at the revelation and pressed back against the door.

"Animatronic locations," Fritz commanded again.

" _You are currently located in the Ballora Gallery. Ballora is not on her stage, so please take care not to disturb her, or risk potential injury,"_ Handunit warned. Of course, Fritz could clearly see that Ballora wasn't on the stage. Shining his light on the stage revealed nothing but emptiness waiting there.

"Come on, Handunit, where are the Minireenas?" Fritz asked before adding in a new comment. "The Minireenas require maintenance."

" _Excellent work for proactively reporting a damaged animatronic! Having a performer out of order loses the choices for potential customers. Minireena A, Minireena B, Minireena C, and Minireena D, will need to be taken to the parts and service room for tending to. Please collect Minireena A, Minireena B, Minireena C, and Minireena D and move them to the parts and service room. If Minireena is too damaged, discard into appropriate recycle bin and file a report for a replacement."_

Fritz smacked the Handunit into his own head, prepared to completely give up at this point. "Please, just-."

" _Minireena A is located in the Breaker Room. Minireena B is not located on this floor. Minireena C is located in the Breaker Room. Minireena D is located in Observation Room Three."_ With that, the Handunit somehow completed what was seeming more and more like an impossible task.

"Thank you!" Fritz nearly gasped out in exasperation as he headed towards the Breaker Room. Maybe he could actually get something done.

* * *

Seeing the empty stage made Jeremy suddenly feel very unsafe. Seeing the empty stage didn't seem to faze Foxy in the slightest.

Instead, the pirate began to circle around the room. "Pretty empty. Why have a stage if there be no tables? No chairs? There's no point! Auditorium- Tis just an oversized warehouse!" Foxy somewhat scolded as he headed towards a large opening in the floor. "Think this be where Matey Mike dropped through? I was expecting something deeper," Foxy pointed out as he crouched down by the hole. "That be a lot 'o scrap down there, though. Might've gotten a scrap or too… You okay, Lad? You've been as quiet as a fish!"

Jeremy hoped that Foxy couldn't see how pale he was as he fixed his glasses. "Yeah, just… Keeping an eye out for Funtime Foxy." He looked over towards a nearby door, wondering where it went, before looking around behind himself. "Hey, uh, this is going to be a weird question- so, you don't have to answer it- but does it- is it weird to be around another Foxy?"

Foxy seemed to raise an ear as though quirking it quizzically. Then he turned more towards the human. "Why would it? Does it feel 'weird' when you be hangin' with other landlubbers?" His tone was playful, so Jeremy decided to return it.

"It depends if you mean a room full of humans or a room full of literal 'Jeremys'. I could see one of those losing its charm once we forget who is who," Jeremy answered and could hear a light chuckling noise from the animatronic.

"It would give me a crew," Foxy offered, but his tone then changed, "but be honest with me, why're you so scared of Funtime? It don't look like any sorta threat. It doesn't even have a hook." Foxy stood and Jeremy awkwardly rubbed at his shoulder. Ironically, he instinctually rubbed his scarred shoulder.

"You know, Foxy… The Mangle- It- She bit me," Jeremy awkwardly clarified as he started to look back.

"Ya don't need to do that, Lad. I'm keeping an ear out," Foxy clarified. This immediately relieved the young man, who had been under the impression that the captain was over-confidently not paying attention. "He was a twitchy one."

"I thought you were the twitchy one," Jeremy pointed out. He then realized that Foxy could take this the wrong way. "…Sorry, I meant-."

"Ah, me? I was a lamb compared to Toy Foxy! Err, Toy Foxy after… You know…" His eyes shifted around as though it was some sort of secret. He leaned in with a low tone, "Til this day, we still don't know what he saw that made him a target."

"Why would he be a target?" Jeremy questioned in confusion. "They- Wait, the facial recognition maybe?"

"Aye, that'd be my guess. She was walkin' the plank when she saw what she did," Foxy explained as he shook his head with sympathy. Then he looked at the security guard with more interest. "…You were bit…" Jeremy nodded in agreement and suddenly Foxy seemed a lot more interested. "Lemme see yer wound, Lad."

"Uh, I don't know about that. I'd have to take my shirt off and just- Aren't we looking for the Minireenas?" Suddenly his long-sleeved shirt didn't feel like enough. Foxy's gaze was curiously searching over his body. Then it focused on his face, on his head, and then switched course to continue looking.

"I'm supposed to be yer captain. A good captain knows everything 'bout their first mate," Foxy excused as though it was nothing. "Come on, let 'ol Foxy see it. It can't be that bad," he coaxed further. He wouldn't let it drop; Jeremy already knew that he wouldn't.

"Well… Okay… But don't say I-I didn't warn you," Jeremy spoke as he handed over the flashlight to the animatronic. "Just… Keep an eye out?" Foxy tapped his patch with his hook while Jeremy turned away. The moment he started to fiddle with the bottom of his shirt, stalling a little, he began to regret his willingness. It wasn't taking the shirt off that was weird; they were both male and Foxy was previously a human, so it wasn't like there should've been awkwardness. However, just the thought of showing off his scars was making him uncomfortable.

"You're sure? We- We should be looking around. We're wasting time," Jeremy pointed out. Foxy raised his ear again, noticing that Jeremy was beginning to stall. "Okay, I just- Don't make a big deal out of it, okay? It's not- Everyone always freaks out when they see it." He slid his shirt upwards and in front of him. As the worse of the scarring was on his back, there was no reason to change his position or face Foxy further. He could already see most of the ridges along his shoulder and back, where Mangle had dug its teeth in.

Jeremy wasn't sure when he started to really shake, but noticed it around the time that metal started to trace over his shoulder and back. For a split second, he thought it was a tooth. Reality slipped in, however, and denoted that it was clearly just the tip of Foxy's hook. He expected a pirate themed quote or some sort of comment about how bad it looked, or even how impressive the scars were. He didn't expect the silence.

After a few minutes, it occurred to Jeremy that Foxy wasn't going to say anything at all, and that he wasn't going to get a signal that he could put his shirt back on. So, he took the liberty of going ahead and slipping it back on. "That's it…" Jeremy remarked uncomfortably as he put his shirt back on. Foxy drew back his hook and watched. "It's, uh… Nothing spectacular."

"It ain't grotesque, if that's what you're thinking," Foxy suddenly forewarned. It was like he only then found his voice. "…Does it still give you trouble?"

"N-No, not really. It's just, uh… A little hard to look at. It took me months to get my shoulder to work like it was supposed to," Jeremy admitted as he turned to face Foxy once again. He thought that it would feel better to have the scars covered once again, but the moment he turned to Foxy he felt scrutinized underneath his gaze. Even though they were covered, Foxy had seen them. An animatronic, like the one that bit him, had seen the wounds and would never forget them. "Umm… You're staring."

"I'm always staring," Foxy pointed out. His voice sounded different again.

"Yeah, but not like-… You don't stare at me during service, do you?" Jeremy asked meekly. "Is that why the kids always get weird when I bring the cakes out?"

"No, it's because ya get all sweaty and the birthday kid starts crying or screamin'," Foxy clarified with another chuckle, hooking his hook onto Jeremy's unscarred shoulder. "You should be proud, Lad! You lived through the Mangle; not many a security guard be able to brag 'bout that!" Finally, Foxy seemed to return to how Jeremy expected, and the relief was immediate. The human even managed an honest smile. "Now come on. Let's go find yer dolls, eh?" He started to steer Jeremy along towards a nearby doorway, unwilling to remove his hook and only moving to adjust it.

"Actually…" Foxy abruptly stopped again, stopping Jeremy with his hook on his shoulder. He quickly scanned the room, looking between the doors, and then setting his gaze on the one beside the stage. "Let's go here… I've got somethin' I want you to see." Jeremy was confused by the change of tone, but went along with the captain's commands.

They entered through the door and into an office. Jeremy recognized its description from Mike's retelling of what happened in Afton's before. He knew this was the office that he had holed in to fight off 'the Ennard' or 'the spaghetti', or whatever else that Mike wanted to add to the title. Drops of brown dotted the ground and were obviously blood, Mike's blood, which only made Jeremy more uneasy. He anxiously wobbled back and forth from foot to foot, watching as Foxy peered out into the hallway.

After a few moments, he stepped out into the hall and started off somewhere. Jeremy was about to follow when a strange thumping noise caught his attention. He looked to the vent above the monitors, dreading whatever was moving inside. He could only imagine Toy Bonnie's face poking through the vent. Though whatever was in the vent was moving slow and making much less noise. He dared to step closer and shine his light at the vent. Whatever was inside came to an immediate stop once the light was shining in. Though now Jeremy was reluctant to move the flashlight away.

It was the squeaking of Foxy's legs that signaled the animatronics return. "What are you doin', Lad?" Foxy sounded a little disappointed, but Jeremy assumed it wasn't towards him. Whatever Foxy was looking for was simply harder to find than he anticipated.

"Something's up there," Jeremy whispered back. He still was nervous, but having Foxy back in the room made him feel at least slightly more confident. That was, until Foxy gave a shrug and strode over to him.

"Foxy- Whoa!" That was all he could blurt out as Foxy bent down, grabbed his legs, and started to easily lift him. "Whoa, whoa! Foxy, I'm not- Stop!" Jeremy commanded as he tried to wriggle free. Slowly he was raised to the vent and the human struggled back, awkwardly leaning over the monitors. "Foxy, no, I'm not-!" He cut off as he faced the vent and reflexively sent the light down the shaft. To his surprise, there was an animatronic in the vent, but it was much smaller and innocent looking than expected.

It almost looked like a baby doll, with big blue eyes and small body. He somewhat recalled seeing an animatronic like this before, but put that aside to address the doll. Perhaps it was like with the Minireenas; maybe this little animatronic could be tempted into being friendly.

"H-Hey there, little guy, or girl…" Jeremy began timidly as he leaned in closer. "Do you, uh… Do you want to come with me?" The doll began to crawl closer, slowly, and he started to regret the decision. It moved in closer before suddenly springing forward. Its faceplates burst open as it landed a few inches short of Jeremy. Unfortunately for the small and aggressive animatronic, Jeremy slammed his hand on the button beside the vent, and shut the animatronic off from its prey.

"…Okay, let me down now," Jeremy squeaked out to Foxy as he felt less safe than ever. "Just- Let's just go to Ballora's Gallery and find Fritz, please?"

"Aye, fine," Foxy agreed with the continued exasperation as he nearly dropped the human to the ground. Jeremy stumbled and partially fell into the desk. "We need Mari for directions anyhoo. Let's shove off; that vent won't hold that squealing, little Blige rat forever," the captain pointed out as he turned and headed through the door into the Funtime Auditorium. Jeremy kept at his heels.

He was planning to ask about what Foxy was looking for, but his question changed when something occurred to him. There were supposed to be multiple animatronics down on this floor, yet they had only seen one. That didn't entirely make sense to Jeremy and, if anything, made him very uncomfortable. The questioning was dropped altogether when he noticed movement through the window of the Primary Control Module. He quickened his pace, passing Foxy, and quickly slipped through the vent.

As exasperated as Foxy was acting earlier, it was nothing to how Fritz looked. He was sitting on the floor with the Handunit sitting beside him, wrapped in his jacket and set at arm's length. To Jeremy's surprise, there were also two, small, squirming dolls laying on the floor as well. It took Jeremy a minute to realize that they had been tethered together with a belt.

"How did you catch them?" Jeremy asked in surprise as he knelt beside him. They both looked to him and one began to make a hissing noise. It was obvious that they were nowhere near as friendly as Daisy was. That didn't deter the human in the slightest.

"I cornered them in the breaker room," Fritz explained tiredly as he rested his head back on the wall. "There was a third one running around with some sort of Bonnie doll, but it's a lost cause."

"Okay…" Jeremy slowly agreed as he listened for Foxy climbing through the vent. "No Ballora?"

"No. No Funtime Foxy?"

"No… No animatronics at all, except for a small, baby one. I forget what they're called," Jeremy trailed off and looked back to Foxy, who was climbing through the vent. "Hey, Captain! Come take a look at this." He had a feeling that this would be the kind of thing that would amuse Foxy. However, Foxy still seemed a little distracted.

"That's a sight ya don't see ev'ry day," Foxy remarked as he looked down at the tethered Minireenas. Then he looked to Fritz, "Is Mari still back with her?"

Fritz furrowed his brow and glanced at the elevator doors. "I heard the elevator earlier. I think they might've headed upstairs…" This caught both Foxy and Jeremy's attention. "Which either means that they left us or Scott's out in the parking lot talking down the cops."

"I'll go find out," Foxy volunteered as he headed over to the elevator. Fritz immediately rushed to his feet and thrust forwards the Handunit.

"Take this thing with you. It might help you," Fritz volunteered. Foxy stared at him for a few moments before narrowing his gaze in suspicion. "… Can you just take it for a couple of minutes?" Fritz clarified. Any answer was interrupted by the Handunit suddenly activating.

" _I notice that you haven't completed the maintenance on Minireena A, Minireena B, Minireena C, Minireena D, or Observation Room Three. Please return to your assigned tasks, as we don't have all night. A quicker worker gets closer to a promotion. Note: Promotions are only available to staff of three years or more."_

" _Please_ ," Fritz was nearly begging. "I'm about ready to lose it." Foxy grumbled and snatched the Handunit before calling the elevator with his hook. While Fritz went to sit back down and wait, Jeremy stood and followed Foxy.

"They could still be in the building," he pointed out. Before he could continue with any sort of point, Foxy interrupted him.

"Aye, they still be here, and Foxy'll find 'em," Foxy assured as he listened to the lowering elevator and counted the floors it was passing. "Stay here with Fritz and wait for me. We ain't finished here yet." Jeremy wasn't sure what Foxy meant by that, but nodded in agreement and waited for the elevator to arrive beside him.

What was Foxy so determined to find down here? Jeremy wondered if he even wanted to know.

Jeremy had no doubt that he would soon find out.


	54. Chapter 54

There was only one office with a working computer, even after the electricity to the floor was restored. There were countless offices that were mostly empty, coated in a layer of dust, and some even locked. Then there was one that was kept clean. It was one of the bigger offices on the floor and, while not labelled, seemed to be the CEO office. Or, at least, a manager's office of some kind. Marionette unlocked the door and Mike boldly stepped inside to begin the search. He went immediately to the computer and attempted to turn it on.

Someone was coming back to the building. The fact that the computer was new, in perfectly fine condition, and clean of any dust only showed this. The computer wasn't protected with any sort of password either and almost immediately opened onto the main background. It seemed to be a relatively new computer from the computer programs' clarity, though Mike wasn't up to date on recent computer trends, being that he didn't have one of his own. His eyes locked onto a folder in particular that was listed as 'animatronics'.

"I'm going in," Mike forewarned as he clicked on the folder and watched it open. His eyes immediately widened at the lengthy list of files that were abbreviated with only numbers instead of titles. "I immediately regret it."

"I can sympathize. I feel the same way," Marionette playfully remarked as he began to look over a corkboard covered in tiny notes. There didn't seem to be much of interest, but he wasn't paying much attention.

"Let's see…" Mike clicked on the first file and a picture of a blueprint appeared. More specifically, Baby's blueprint, and it was the exact same one as before. The second file was a follow up file that contained information on Baby's creator, location of creation, current location, and trademark information. The third and fourth file were the same, but were instead for Balloon Boy. The fifth and sixth were for Ballora. "I think they're in alphabetical order, so we might be here for a while," Mike forewarned. However, he was unwilling to skip files. The next two were unknown mouse animatronics and followed by the four Funtime animatronics; Foxy, Freddy, Bonnie, who was the Bonnie puppet, and a Chica one that Mike hadn't seen.

Her information sheet revealed why. From what it claimed, Funtime Chica had been dismantled and reused for parts. "He knew where all of the animatronics were," Mike pointed out. "Or, at least, he kept an eye on the ones that he was working with… If he was going to stop using them, it looks like he just took them apart." He then scoffed, "Because that's not extremely suspicious." Marionette was now watching, but was unwilling to come stand beside Mike. He didn't want to be able to immediately see their answer; he would rather see it through Mike's reaction.

There was another mouse, what looked to be the 'Lumberbot' from Chippers, and then a familiar figure popped up on the screen. "Max the Magician. It says he plays card games. That's one hell of a list there- And… Currently out of order," Mike quickly recited before continuing through the list. The Minieenas, more unknown animatronics, and a few Springlock suits that, surprisingly enough, lacked blueprints. Instead, there was the minimal of information on the three, which was mostly limited to 'yellow bear', 'yellow rabbit', and 'brown bear'.

It was only then that Mike finally found the first of the Toy animatronics. Toy Bonnie's blueprints appeared on screen. "Here's Toy Bonnie," Mike called over and Marionette looked towards the man in interest. The blueprints showed Toy Bonnie's full figure, along with his endoskeleton, and was labelled with the same 'ABC' pattern of the Funtime animatronics. "It mentions the facial recognition and the criminal database, instrumental mimicking- whatever that's supposed to be-, and detachable exterior plates. Nothing suspicious."

"And his creator?" Marionette inquired curiously, approaching the desk.

"It's... Henry Johnson, William Afton," Mike recited directly from the file. He gave an awkward cough, "So, both of them."

"Oh no…" Marionette quietly murmured. His default smile was immediately gone and was replaced with the return of worry. "No, it can't be…"

"Don't panic just yet. That could just mean that Henry made them here," Mike tried to defend. "Let's keep going, okay?" He moved on to Toy Chica and, again, found nothing too odd. No, the red flags came with Toy Foxy, which had a very familiar 'quirk' tagged onto its list. " _Deter and misdirect… That was on Ballora's, right? Yeah. Damn…"_  Mike tried to hide his mental war from spreading to his face. Marionette was already staring at him intently; he didn't want him noticing that he was starting to get uneasy. Again, these animatronics were made by both men.

Toy Freddy had the familiar 'grouping coordination' tagged onto him. With every word, the connections were growing, and the hole was getting deeper.

"Did… Did it say how they were dismantled?" Marionette quietly asked.

"No. It just says they were. Remind me to ask about 'concept unification' when we get back to Fritz," Mike replied. Thankfully, he wasn't lying about this. With a small inhale, he clicked to the next file. The Puppet's blueprints were displayed across the screen. "I'm on your blueprints now…" His eyes immediately locked onto the four skills that were labelled on the side of the blueprint and titled with letters. He read them out to the animatronic, "Music synchronization, unsurprisingly. Ticket and prize exchange programming, internal music box, in-… Interchangeable mask?"

"Excuse me?" Marionette asked in just as much confusion.

"That's what it says. Interchangeable mask," Mike clarified as his eyes flicked upwards to study the Puppet's face. "Your mask comes off."

"My mask doesn't come off," Marionette denied in confusion. "You've seen what happens with the smallest crack; how could I take off my face?"

"So, the actual mystery here isn't about who created you… but whether there's a second mask floating around?" Mike was now purposefully playing with the striped being. Marionette pressed his lips tightly together and watched as Mike looked back to the screen, then quirked a brow in interest.

"I hope you aren't looking at my endoskeleton," Marionette quipped as he crossed his arms. "Especially not when we're in the middle of a crisis."

"Just seeing where your strings go- Okay, I'll stop," as the Puppet started to circle the desk, the security guard raised his hands in defense, with smugness still on his face. "But we're looking for that second mask once we're done here. If you're not going to use it, then I'll put it on myself and save myself the trouble of looking for a costume this Halloween." The following wink only made it worse. Marionette only averted his gaze because of how embarrassed he felt having Mike see his inner workings. It was the first time he felt 'naked' in a while.

"Alright, moment of truth…" Mike announced and turned serious again as he clicked to the next file. He stared at the screen for a few moments, blankly staring at the words, and then exhaled. "Henry."

"…What?" Marionette's voice was back to near silence.

"It's just Henry. Not Afton." Mike broke into a smile of relief and tiredly leaned back in the office chair. "That's fifty-fifty in our favor."

"But… That's can't be- That's wonderful!" It was obvious that the Puppet was torn. "No, I can't- it doesn't make sense. The others-!"

"Look for yourself. I doubt the file would lie about this," Mike offered as he scooted back. Marionette moved in front of him and stared at the screen, scanning the information. There it was in back and white; Henry Johnson was listed as his creator. Or, at least, as the creator of his current form. It was both brilliant and utterly unbelievable.

"This is more than I could've ever hoped for, but it seems too good to be true," he admitted as he turned around to face his companion. "Why me? Why am I different in this way?"

"It makes sense," Mike remarked in a much more relaxed manner. "You're the only one on this entire list whose been made of fabric and you're the only Toy animatronic without that facial recognition technology. I don't know why Henry went with this, but as far as I'm concerned this proves that there's nothing shady going on." He leaned forward again to click back to the previous file while the Puppet contemplated this.

"You're right… I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. I'm not exactly a normal animatronic and Goldie wouldn't have helped me into a body that- Would you please?!" Only now did Marionette notice his blueprints had popped onto the screen again. He reached out and covered his figure as best as he could.

"Relax, I was just looking for anything I missed. I already saw all I can of your endo," he purposefully added this in to continue playing with the animatronic. There was no reason not to now; everything was confirmed to be fine. While it was a small relief, Afton's lack of imprint on Marionette's current body was a sort of victory. Or, at least, it would make Marionette happy, and when he was happy then so was Mike. "Do you feel better now, knowing that Baby was blowing smoke?" Part of him wondered if Baby meant to rile Marionette too, in a different way.

"I feel great! Henry seemed like a nice man and didn't look to have any reason to hurt any children. That alone makes me glad that he created this body," Marionette explained as he returned to his previous smile. Subtly enough, he flipped to the second page again, taking it off his own endoskeleton. "And yes, maybe Afton did help create my soul, if he is my biological father, but I seem to be slowly moving further and further out of his ties. The sins of the father should not be laid upon the children."

"Even if he made your body, it wouldn't have suddenly changed everything," Mike assured him. "Not between us, not with the business, not with anything. You don't have to fear being connected to William." He pushed off the office chair and laid his hands on the Puppet's shoulders, squeezing into his fabric affectionately. Marionette gave a chime before it quickly changed to the warbling. He eagerly pressed into the human's shoulder and wrapped his arms around his frame. "…But we're still taking the blueprint with us."

Mike couldn't help but smirk as Marionette's warbling immediately changed to slight static. "We need it for the file cabinet, Mari. What happens if you ever need maintenance?" Mike suggested in a somewhat patronizing way; possibly because of his amused smile. "There's a printer right over there. It'll only take a minute and then we'll head back down again," he drew back and went to check the printer. The Puppet was less than impressed with the human's assurance that the blueprints were necessary, but returned to a bubbly demeanor.

Once the printer was on and going, Mike turned back to Marionette. He could only still be amused by his excitement. "So, while that's printing and you're throwing a temper tantrum, we have some unfinished business. Now stand still while I try to take your mask off." Mike's continued teasing at the Puppet's expense didn't shift the emotion. Marionette was just so giddy, so filled with life, and it was almost contagious. Mike reached forwards and cupped the porcelain mask, watching as Marionette almost immediately softened under his touch.

Because as relieved as Marionette was, as confident as he seemed, Mike knew that he needed this little bit of reassurance.

He traced his thumbs along the soft, ruby circles of his cheeks and could feel the Puppet tremble in response. The smile slipped to a smaller one and Marionette closed his eyes, pressing into the human's hold and reaching upwards to grasp his wrists. It was obvious that he enjoyed being touched on his mask. As fragile as it was, Mike knew exactly which points he liked caressed. Every soft chime was a reassurance that he was doing exactly what he needed to do, drowning out his attention on the nearby printer.

And it was intoxicating. This thing, whatever this relationship was, was as addicting as it could be. Here he had more evidence towards Marionette clearly being an animatronic, and yet he wasn't deterred at all. Mike couldn't understand the logic in it; he grew closer because of how human the Puppet was. Even now he reacted with the same life that any human would. Every soft chirp and every squeeze of his hands; so human, but he could now guess every piece of metal inside his fabric.

" _Mike~,"_ Marionette chimed in absolute adoration. He turned his face to press further into one of his hands, clinging to the touch. "I love you.  _I love you_." There came the babbling and Mike relished in it. Then decided to silence it by pressing his lips to the porcelain ones. They were cool, as firm as porcelain, but eagerly moved with false softness that was perfect against his own lips. It was so wrong to want this so much.

That being said, Mike had no desire to separate. If anything, he only wanted to continue this as long as they could, ignoring the printer. He took every second with his guilty pleasure and greedily clung to it. Only breaking apart to get air. Marionette hugged closer and allowed the male to get only a breath before his hands tightened. An alarmed chime broke out and Mike only had a second to brace himself.

"Foxy!"

That was Mike's only warning before the sound of footsteps. Before he could respond, Foxy crashed against his back, and he reacted by shoving Marionette back out of the way. He then tried to turn towards Foxy, who was surprisingly strong as he shook the human like a doll. Foxy said nothing but instead made a barrage of growling and shrieking noises. As though he was just too angry to say anything with words. He slammed Mike back onto the desk, his fingers tightening on his collar, and brought back his hook.

Mike couldn't cover the sudden alarm across his face. He grabbed at the gripping arm with one hand and put the other out as though to block the coming hook. Before Foxy could take a swing, Marionette appeared behind him and wrapped his hands around Foxy's wrist.

"Foxy, you're going to kill him!" Marionette blurted out with actual panic. He was capable of putting up a fight with Foxy, but truly had no desire to do so. The last thing he wanted was to fight his brother.

"That's what I'm aiming for!" Foxy snarled. Marionette didn't know if he was bluffing or serious, but wrapped his wires around the fox's arm for extra measure.

"Stop it!" Marionette commanded. "I swear, I'm not above dragging you off of him!"

"Hey, come on, let's just talk about this!" Mike blurted out in his own defense. Normally he wouldn't result to trying to talk his way out of this, especially when he had a clear shot if he took a swing, but the last thing he wanted was to be gored and then have Foxy and Marionette fighting as a result. This could all go very badly very quickly. "I know what you saw wasn't-." He was interrupted by Foxy at this point.

"What did you think, Schmidt?! You'd just lead him out of the room and have your way with him?!" Foxy shook at his collar before pressing him back harder. The human could feel the computer now being shoved into his back. "Taking advantage of a child, you sick, purple wearin' freak!?"

"You're the one acting like a child, Foxy!" Marionette replied as he suddenly slipped in between them and directly blocked the animatronic captain. "Unless you intend to attack me too, you can control yourself!"

Only now did Foxy back off, but then proceeded to stalk back and forth in the office, as though preparing to pounce. Marionette looked back to Mike to make sure he was fine before looking back at Foxy, disappointment on his face. Then came the silence that followed what was probably the worst scenario. Someone had managed to catch them, even when they thought they were completely alone.

Before anyone could say anything, Mike boldly let his hand fall onto Marionette's back. He didn't know whose comfort it was for, but one of them needed it. Unfortunately, Foxy must have noticed it, as he began to question.

"How long has  _this_ been going on?" Foxy demanded with a growl. Denial faded as he realized exactly how unlikely it was that the Puppet just let someone use him. Especially now that he was actively guarding him. He might have mindlessly followed Goldie, but Foxy didn't know if Marionette was willing to throw himself in front of him and stubbornly shove them apart.

"Not too long, but long enough," Marionette vaguely responded. His tone grew a bit softer. "Around Valentine's Day."

"You're kidding me…" Foxy shook his head in disbelief. "This can't- What is this? What have you two been-?!" His attention then changed to the printer which finished its task. He reached for the printed blueprints. "What is this?" this time he sounded exasperated.

"We were looking for information on who created my body, Afton or Johnson." Foxy's gaze immediately perked and Marionette forced a smile and raised his hands in a mock joyous pose, "This is sort of a celebration." Regardless, Foxy locked his gaze onto Mike who stared back, and for a few moments they stared each other down with absolute silence.

Then, Foxy turned away, almost stumbling in place. "This can't be real- You can't-," he snapped his head back to Marionette. "Do you realize what's gonna happen if they-," he hesitated and then pointed at something on the floor. A second glance revealed that it was the Handunit. Neither Mike nor Marionette knew why Foxy had brought it here. "If anyone finds out what you two have been doing?! You think you can trust him- Someone that our father trusted!" The animatronic was infuriated by the suggestion. "You don't know him."

"Of course, I do," Marionette bluntly retorted. "I know everything I need to know and more… And now, thanks to that blueprint, he knows more about me than I would want him to know." He was obviously trying to find humor in the situation, but Foxy was relentless.

"And you  _love_  him?" Foxy asked in an extremely patronizing way.

"I do," the younger replied.

"And does he  _love_ you?" Foxy asked again.

It took the Puppet a moment to answer. Long enough that Mike noticed it and looked to him, while Marionette continued staring for Foxy. Then he answered, "I should only hope so." Foxy didn't pick up how open that answer was to interpretation. "What are you even doing up here, Foxy? You were supposed to be protecting Jeremy and Fritz," Marionette scolded as he turned the tables on his older brother.

"I-… Where's the fake bedroom?" Foxy answered in a question. The Puppet looked surprised by the question. "The one with the closet. The bedroom- I need to see it."

"...Foxy," regardless of the fox's behavior, Marionette's voice held some sympathy. That didn't mean he was fully willing to excuse the outburst from a few moments before, but he couldn't help but sympathize. "You go down to the Funtime Auditorium and take a left into the private room. Follow the hall to the back and you'll find a vent entrance. It's the only way that I know of that leads inside."

Then there was awkward silence. Unwilling to say another word on what he had witnessed, Foxy turned away. "Finish up here and get back downstairs," he randomly commanded and headed out of the office, storming away.

Now Marionette and Mike were left alone. Foxy's abrupt transition from yelling to leaving had left both reeling, but it was obvious that they were both equally disturbed. "He's still mad..." Marionette pointed out, dropping from annoyance to a mix of sorrow and fear, for both him and them. "I never thought he'd take it that badly…"

"He's mad at me, not you," Mike pointed out before making a sudden decision. "I'm going after him. Can you shut the computer down?" He then handed the Puppet the radio as well. "Here, Phone Guy can stay with you. Just don't pretend to be me and start prank calling him."

"I don't- Mike, you shouldn't follow Foxy when he's like this," Marionette pointed out. "I don't think he would've really killed you, but I have no doubt that he wouldn't 'play nice'."

"I'm not afraid of Foxy… Maybe a little wary of his hook, but I'm not afraid of him," he assured as grabbed the printed paper, handed it over, and then snatched the Handunit from the floor. It didn't seem to be damaged, but he didn't want it to get 'accidently' left behind. Fritz was liable to go after him just like Foxy did; men, or a man and a fox, and their toys.

Mike knew he had to hurry after Foxy before he got to the elevator, but he lingered a moment. Marionette's answer to Foxy's final question was still lingering and, after something like that, he felt like he needed to say something. Yet as he looked to the Puppet, he felt his mouth go dry and ran out of appropriate words. Eventually, he realized that there was nothing he could say. Instead, he moved back in and tried a bolder approach to deal with the lack of time. In a quick motion, he pulled the Puppet back in and pressed his lips to his cheek.

"Foxy's the least of our problems, Mari. Let me take a whack at him," Mike comforted.

The Puppet lowly warbled, "Take a literal whack if he starts grabbing on you again. He can take it."

"I'll try, but I don't want to put my hands near his mouth," he remarked with a smirk and drew back. Then he quickly headed out the door and headed back to the elevator. Foxy was standing in the elevator and was blankly staring at the back wall when he heard the security guard approach. He immediately moved to the keypad and began to aggressively pound at the buttons. Thankfully, the elevator was slow, and Mike was inside long before the door came to a shut. The moment they were closed, Foxy turned on him.

"I don't know what's more of an insult: you following me or you bringing  _that_ with you," Foxy snapped with an obvious glare. "What do you want, Schmidt?" Before Mike could even begin, Foxy added in another question. "And where is Marion? Why isn't he with you?"

"He's shutting off the computer and pulling himself together…" Mike tried to keep from losing his patience at Foxy's behavior. "We've got a few minutes. Let's talk about this." As the animatronic started to turn away, shutting him out, Mike finally allowed himself to snap, "I know you're upset about catching us, but you acting like this is only hurting Mari, not me. Frankly, I don't care what you think, Foxy." His gaze narrowed further as past anger began to resurface. "You keep acting like he can't trust me, but as far as I'm concerned, I can't trust you."

"What does that mean?" Foxy asked with a dangerously low tone. Mike took the risk and didn't back down.

"What is it; overprotection or overcompensation?" Mike demanded right back. "Such a good older brother, watching over Marionette. Shame that you weren't doing it before."

And then there was silence. Mike expected a big fight to originate out of this, planned on getting clocked, but Foxy went completely inactive. It took a moment after that, but Mike then wondered if he had gone too far. He hadn't meant to let that get out, but it had. Just like Foxy, he had let his emotions and overprotectiveness get the best of him. Now Foxy stood there staring blankly at the wall, as though dumbstruck. Not that Mike could find any words either. The elephant in the room was standing between them and it was starting to suffocate them.

" _Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career."_

"Just kill me now," Mike muttered under his breath as the Handunit began to babble onward. It didn't help ease any of the tension and now ruined the slim opportunity he had to restart the 'talk' with Foxy.

Eventually, the Handunit came to a specific request.  _"Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later so please be careful."_ Of course, there wasn't any name printed above the keypad. After giving a shrug to himself, Mike started to tap at the screen, trying to type in his own name. It wasn't like anyone other than Fritz was going to have the information anyway. Unfortunately, the keypad was as buggy as usual, and eventually the Handunit intervened.

" _It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. One moment."_

"Oh, I'm going to love hearing this," Mike muttered as he stared at the screen, daring the Handunit to continue without saying a word.

" _Welcome: Mike."_

"…It got my name right," Mike murmured in continuation. It was surprising and soon led into a sort of sinking feeling in his gut. He could've only gotten the beginning in right; it shouldn't have been able to guess his name. "…Unless it wasn't me?"

"Michael Afton," Foxy drew out, suddenly announcing his presence. Mike hadn't been speaking to him when he was making small talk with himself, but Foxy had obviously been listening.

"You… Know about him," Mike half remarked and partially accused. "Phone Guy mentioned him."

"Aye, course I know 'em," Foxy remarked as he slipped back into character. "He was our brother. Older brother, older than me by a few years."

"Does Mari not remember him either, because he's never mentioned him?" Mike pointed out as he fully looked to Foxy. "He doesn't even have a bedroom at the house."

"Him and Dad weren't gettin' along. Don't know if he was disowned or just set sails on his own," Foxy admitted as he kept his gaze on the elevator's doors. It seemed like this was the end of it and Mike considered further questions. Though he didn't want to give Foxy the idea that he just forgot what happened a few minutes previously. That was, until a cold hand was suddenly on his shoulder. "In fact… Ya sorta look like 'em…" Foxy's voice had a different tone; threatening, but not in a direct way. He slowly turned the security guard to face him.

He stared Mike in the eyes as the young man watched back, looking out for if the animatronic was about to attack. This wasn't aggressive Foxy; this was 'about to mistake him for someone else' Foxy. That could be even more dangerous. Right as he started to consider pulling away, Foxy released his shoulder and took a step back.

"…But not enough," Foxy revealed as he looked to the front again. "Too many little differences. You ain't him." The elevator came to a stop and the Handunit continued to prattle on, though so did Foxy.

"We're gonna act like nothing happened up there. Mari, me, you; they don't need to know. I won't be the one to tell 'em, but you need to keep an eye out, cause they'll see it themselves," Foxy forewarned the security guard. Then he added in with a rather firm, "And I won't stand in between you and Marion, but if you hurt him… I'm an Afton. We make people disappear." With that warning, he pressed the button and stepped out of the elevator. Mike silently acknowledged this threat and followed.

Marionette had arrived in the Control Module before either of the others had and was waiting as they entered inside. He couldn't help but be relieved to see both in fine condition. "Welcome back," the Puppet volunteered to them. "How was the ride?"

"Nothin' special," Foxy excused before looking to Jeremy who was sitting between Fritz and the wall, coddling the two, kicking, fussing Minireenas. "To yer feet, Lad! We be shoving off!"

"We're going home?" Jeremy guessed and this got a chuckle, clearly forced, out of the animatronic.

"Nah, we're going back to lookin'! Come along," Foxy beckoned as he headed back towards the Auditorium vent and crouched down. It was then that he could feel a familiar, fabric hand on his shoulder. Marionette didn't say anything to the fox animatronic and simply showed his concern through the gesture. Foxy reached up and patted his hand with reassurance, all while staying silent as well.

Jeremy gave a tired groan as he set the dolls aside and stood. However, he didn't protest and followed Foxy, silently climbing into the vent with him. It was as though he knew there was no chance of protest and that it was best to just follow along.

With Foxy gone, Marionette turned to Mike. "I need to speak to Baby again, if you will accompany me to the Circus Module."

"I think I can handle that," Mike replied as he handed over the Handunit to Fritz. "What about you? Want to tag along?"

"I think I'm going to just wait here and watch the Minireenas," Fritz admitted as he set the Handunit down and covered it up again. "And try my best not to get tetanus."

"Don't count on," Mike smirked as he followed Marionette towards the vent entrance. He could still remember all the boosters they gave him at the hospital, after his blood count had been raised enough. Then he followed his own animatronic to the vent. "Keep an eye out for moving wires!"

It didn't take Foxy and Jeremy long to return to the private room. By now, the vent had somehow opened back up, and Jeremy sent it a wary look as the captain led him past to the hallway. They crossed down the corridors in the direction that the Puppet had sent them.

"So… What exactly was this place used for?" Jeremy asked quietly. He almost didn't want to know the answer and kept a close eye out as Foxy approached an open vent. "Was this to… Watch something?"

"Probably not. Looks like some sort o' testing room," Foxy dismissed as he climbed into the vent and started to crawl. "Stay close. We don't want you gettin' drug off." This seemed to work too well as Jeremy practically threw himself into the vent and was nearly on the animatronic's back as they left the other side. What they stepped into was something much different than one would expect; as though the vent didn't just take them into another room, but took them into a completely different building.

It almost looked like a normal house. Almost, but the smell of rot and the obvious fact that they were still underground challenged this. It wasn't much of a house either. The front room had some furniture, carpet, a few fake windows, a grandfather clock, and a door that led somewhere else. This room also attached to two hallways, and Foxy naturally started down one.

"It's this way," Foxy assured as he led Jeremy further. The human continued to shine his light around, looking at the confusing location. The hallway was dolled to look normal; with a table with a lamp and various pictures dotting the wall, yet this only made everything seem uncanny. He couldn't imagine why anyone, even William Afton, would take so much time to build a fake home. Before he could dwell on it, Foxy pushed open a door and stepped into what looked to be a bedroom.

"This is it…" Foxy quietly admitted as he looked around the room. His eyes scanned every detail and recognized it all. The bed, the closet, the toys; everything was the same. "Here we are, Lad! We found it!"

"We found what?" Jeremy timidly asked, again not certain if he wanted the answer.

"Remember the story I told ya, Laddie? This be the room!" Foxy revealed with a wide gesture of his left arm. "This were Captain Foxy spent the last of his days!" Jeremy reaction was an instant choking noise, followed by a quick 'what?!'. "It be so, Mr. Fitzgerald, but don't let it get to ya. Trust me, it ain't as bad as it looks!" It was almost out of reflex that Foxy was defending the scenario. As though he had to calm down Jeremy and convince him that everything was under control. "'Specially when ya don't know yer underground. You turn on the ambiance and swear yer hearing crickets!"

"Foxy, this…" Jeremy's breathing was a little quicker. "This is just- I can't…" He was starting to hyperventilate as the claustrophobic room's past reared its ugly head. "Why would you bring me here?" He was having trouble keeping his voice even and could only watch as Foxy's face seemed to fall. Everything seemed to subtly lose its forced bravado.

"Just returnin' the favor, Jer'my. You showed me yer scars, so I'm showing ya mine," Foxy quietly explained his reasoning. "If we're walkin' the plank, it's worth us goin' all the way into the water."

"What?" Jeremy was now completely confused to what he meant. Though he recovered well enough. "You… Foxy, you didn't have to do this. I can't- I can't imagine-."

"Can't imagin' how it felt showin' me yer bite?" Foxy guessed. "When it was one of my crew who bit ya?" This caused Jeremy to immediately clam up. "If this salty fox couldn't take it, he wouldn't have brought ya here." Yet as Foxy said this, he felt the looming shadows over his shoulders and stretching around his neck. He felt unsafe, like he was being watched. As though his father was still watching him from the cameras.

He had been so ready to show Jeremy this. Then he had seen the truth about what was happening between Mike and Marionette. Then he realized that his worst fears, that his suspicion that they were too close, were completely true. Then Mike just happened to remind him of  _that_. He couldn't escape  _that._ He couldn't escape  _this._  He hoped that Jeremy didn't notice how much he was twitching.

The human didn't, though. Instead, he came closer, and hesitantly reached forwards. "I-If you're sure… Still, I mean, yeah…" Jeremy had lost himself to uncomfortable jabbering. He reached out and touched his arm in an almost hesitant fashion. As though he feared making it worse. "It's… You're so strong, Foxy. You're so much stronger than I am."

"Ah, don't get all soft on me." Foxy started to slowly pull himself together. "It ain't nothing to get soft over." He couldn't get it. Jeremy was such a good 'lad'. Why was Marionette cuddling up with Mike when he could be with someone like Jeremy? Foxy could only be so lucky. "It needed being done. I needed to face this room." With that, Foxy moved to sit down on the floor in front of the bed, just as he had when he stayed here before. "Hand me yer light." Jeremy didn't even ask and handed over the flashlight.

It was so surreal to be here again. Foxy didn't expect to ever be in this room again, shining a flashlight back and forth between the doors and expecting something to leap out… And yet it wasn't that bad. Maybe it was the feeling of not being alone- Jeremy took the liberty of sitting on the bed beside him. Maybe it was just knowing that William Afton was dead… If he was truly dead. Whatever it was, Foxy could handle it.

Foxy had seen his younger brother in the arms of a former security guard; he could handle anything.

* * *

The blaring of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' roused him from his brief respite. In a panic he fumbled around, briefly forgetting why he was in his car and trying to figure out where  _it_ was coming from. He turned on his ignition and flipped on every light in the car, yet the music continued. Though it was only while he was digging into his glovebox when he realized that the music was coming from the passenger seat. More specifically, from the radio that was sitting on the seat.

With shaking hands, he grabbed the radio and scrambled with it. "H-Hello?! What is this?! Mike?! What's going on?!" Almost immediately, the music stopped, and chiming replaced it. Still panicked, he dug into the back of the radio and yanked out the batteries, silencing the chiming. The chiming which had begun to sound less like music and more like laughter.

He had a feeling that he should've stayed home, and that the Puppet was laughing at his expense.


	55. Chapter 55

Marionette was ready to face Baby. Keeping his head high and his posture straight, fully ready and competent, he approached the female clown. "Baby, I returned," Marionette announced with a mostly emotionless tone.

"Oh, good. I feared you wouldn't," Baby quietly pointed out as she looked to him. "Where did you go?"

"I went for answers, Baby, and I found them," Marionette explained. "Afton did not create me. Henry did."

"…Henry?" Baby sounded confused, as though she didn't know who he was. The Puppet didn't know if she honestly didn't know or if she was pretending not to know.

"Henry Johnson. Though that isn't important," the Puppet insisted. "Instead, let us discuss why I am here… Or more straightforwardly, why you think I would make the same offer twice." This time, his voice was much more even. He wanted her to know that he was not going to budge. Hopefully, she would just give up her begging. "I don't trust you."

"But… Why not?" Baby asked in an almost meek tone. She seemed surprised that he was being so resistant. "I know that our last meeting ended tragically, but I promise that I've changed! I'm different now." She was firmly insistent and looked over his face with flickering, twitching eyes.

"I can't trust you, Baby, and even if I thought I could, I can't control you. I couldn't stop you from doing something terrible," Marionette pointed out. "I can't force you to be honest, and I have my suspicions."

"Are you not some sort of puppeteer? Can't you control other animatronics?" Baby was becoming desperate. "You- I would never do anything- but if I did, you could force me to stop. Using your strings, you could control me!"

"I resent that," Marionette remarked. "I only 'control' animatronics when somebody's in impending doom. I can't just play babysitter- literal 'baby' sitter- because I cannot trust you." He looked down towards the floor. "…And I can't trust you because you're not being honest." The female animatronic became more desperate and frantic at these words.

"But I am being honest!" Baby insisted, suddenly having much more emotion in her voice. Before, she sounded unflappable, especially in the dreams. Now she was completely at his mercy.

"Then where  _is Ennard?_ " Marionette snapped back. "Why will you not tell me where the others are?" This was followed by silence. Baby's eyes rolled to the floor and she stared at the tile for a moment.

"…The others are gone…" Shockingly enough, there was true honesty in this comment. Not the 'possibly pretending' honesty that Marionette had become familiar with. "…They left me. It's only me now… That's why I need you. I can't stay down here  _alone_. Singing, dancing, being happy- happy children- I want to be there. I don't need a body, I know that now. I know now that humans… Can't be taken apart and put back together. Not like us." Everything sounded so good, but that didn't mean he would let himself believe.

"…Do you remember being human? Do you remember being a little girl, before all of this?" Marionette inquired. It virtually had nothing to do with the current conversation's direction, but he felt like he still had to ask it.

"I don't remember it," Baby admitted. "I don't remember much from a long time ago… Why?" She seemed to notice how forlorn the Puppet looked. "Is that wrong? Should I remember?"

"…It's not unheard of. Many of the others like us do not remember being human. It's just easier when they do…" Either way, Marionette wasn't sure what he felt like. "…I can't agree to this. You will hurt someone. I know you will hurt someone." He laid a hand over his eyes as he tried to think it through.

"I can sing, I can- I think I can make ice cream still- I blow up balloons! I can do so much good for them, for the pizzeria, let me go with you!" Baby was not holding back any longer. She was outright begging and seemed unafraid to show her own weakness. Maybe she could tell that he was starting to cave; that he did truly feel bad about the entire scenario. Every time he looked at her, he imagined that little girl with the strawberry blonde hair, whose life was cut tragically short. He couldn't remember their time together, but he knew he had loved her.

And Baby's behavior was entirely unexpected. Before, she had been so composed, so precise, but now she was a flustered mess. He couldn't tell if this was out of panic or out of 'pretending'; she was like a completely different person. Maybe she could tell that his resolve was weakening, as the pleads abruptly stopped. In their place was a simple offer.

"Just give me a week, please. Give me a week to try and prove that I can do it," Baby asked with a finality in her voice. "…Please, Marionette."

Unfortunately, Mike wasn't standing beside him, and thus Marionette knew he would falter.

In the Circus Control, Mike had given up on trying to listen in, as it wasn't working, and was now fiddling with the radio. He turned it on and spoke through, "Hey, are you there?" To mild surprise, Phone Guy didn't respond. "Hello, hello?" Mike tried again, and again there was nothing. Shrugging it off as the man falling asleep, he turned the radio back off and distracted himself a different way. More specifically, with the flashlight that he proceeded to try and shine through the windows.

He could get a slightly better look at Marionette and Baby, but they seemed too distracted to pay attention to the extremely dim light. For whatever reason, the windows mostly reflected the direct light, and it was only because Mike had brought a different flashlight from last time that he was able to see at all. He then began to scan the room. While there were tables and a few decorations, he doubted that there were ever parties down here. Probably just another simulated room. It was a shame Phone Guy wasn't answering; he had some questions for him.

Mike didn't trust Baby enough to leave and talk to Fritz. No doubt in the moment he would be gone, Ennard would suddenly appear and start causing trouble. It was better just to wait, even if it meant that he had little to do. He continued to shine the flashlight along the windows and out towards the other side of the Circus Gallery. He expected to see nothing, but suddenly the light was cast over a figure.

For a split second, he swore it was Ennard. The wire covered body seemed to suggest this, even if it was much less tangled. However, the head was what revealed that it wasn't the same being. Instead of a clown mask covering an endoskeleton resembling head, it looked much more like a version of Freddy, and stared Mike down. It was clearly uninterested in both Marionette and Baby, and instead looked towards the lone human. Though this was all in a single moment. Out of reflex alone, Mike suddenly flicked off the flashlight, and by time he turned it back on it was gone.

It had been a kneejerk reaction, but he was regretting it now. Mike quickly scanned the area surrounding the control room before checking again on Marionette and Baby. By now, Marionette's body language signaled distress, but he didn't seem to have noticed what had been in the room.

Then the room suddenly turned cold. A heavy sensation weighed on his back and Mike knew something, perhaps the Freddy he had seen, was behind him. There was no way it could've gotten into the office and yet he felt it behind him. He could smell a metallic scent, like wet metal, and hear the dull sound of breathing behind him. Raspy breathing that was only deafened by the sound of his own pounding heartbeat. He went completely still, as though out of reflex, and stared ahead at Marionette, hoping that he would somehow be able to tell that something was with him.

It didn't feel like Ennard. It felt to overbearing to be the clown. It felt much more threatening; any movement and he knew it would devour him whole.

Then, Marionette turned towards the control module, still distressed, and teleported inside. In the moment that he vanished, so did whatever was behind him. Its weight was gone before the Puppet could even appear inside.

"Mike, help me," Marionette was overly exasperated and tiredly rubbed his mask. "Please, talk me out of doing something foolish." The security guard said nothing and the Puppet raised his head, looking questioningly.

"What's going on?" Mike forced out. "What did she say?" He knew now that the Puppet hadn't seen whatever was in the module with him. While he knew he needed to say something, he decided not to say anything yet. He had a feeling that if he said even a word, it would come back for him. He would need to wait until they got to safety.

"…She's begging to be taken away from here. She's absolutely  _pitiful_. Unfortunately, not as pitiful as me," Marionette quietly added in the last part with a huff. "…I know she's a liar. I know she can hurt me… So why is it that I even consider…? Mike, please, tell me what to do." He looked to Mike with desperation.

Naturally, Mike wanted to get out of Afton's as fast as possible, which may have influenced his next remark. "Isn't that what we came down here to do?"

"…What?" Marionette blankly asked.

"We said we were coming to 'talk', but we brought everyone and the van. There was a chance that we were leaving with her," he pointed out to the animatronic. "Personally, I don't trust her, but Baby isn't like Ennard. She's got some sort of emergency stop in her leg." In all honesty, Mike had no reason to trust Baby and, frankly, wanted nothing to do with her. But he knew if he made this choice for Marionette, it was bound to come back and haunt him. "It's your call, Mari. You'll know better than I can."

"Mike, this-… this isn't like our last sudden decision. This isn't a scenario where we can just 'go with it'. Someone can get hurt!" Marionette protested. Though he seemed more to be convincing himself.

"And it'll probably be me," Mike remarked as he glanced out towards where the Freddy being had once stood. "All I can tell you is what I read from the blueprint, and that's that she isn't like the others… But I don't trust her. I think if she could, she would make another grab at my body." His tone gained a bit more animosity in it. "She's also not really making a great impression, dropping lines about Afton. Bothering you about that… But in the end, I'm not emotionally invested. You are."

"But I don't want to be!" Marionette wearily admitted. "I'm so tired of worrying about my siblings… So, tired of worrying about other, miserable animatronics. Am I the only one happy in my fabric?" Mike nearly made a remark about his endoskeleton, but held back. He dropped his head, "I don't want to decide."

"I don't either," Mike admitted. He paused, then gestured a thumb to the vent. "Let's ask Fritz."

"Fritz?... Alright." So, they decided to turn to the technician, who was still sitting in the control module. It seemed like a good enough idea; neither of them would have to take responsibility for their own decisions.

It didn't take long to get Fritz up to speed and by the end he looked startled by the suggestion alone. "I thought Baby was part of the animatronic that attacked you both."

"She was and probably still is," Mike pointed out matter-of-factly. "She's saying that she's not planning on attacking anyone, but she's not exactly trustworthy. It's a mixed bag."

The Puppet now volunteered, "I do believe that  _she_ believes in her words. She may be desperate enough to escape that she won't be a danger… Especially if we can get her away from the Scooper and show her that being a working animatronic is rewarding. She is the only one that wasn't created to harm or kidnap children, after all. That… Gives her a better chance than the others, wherever they are."

"And she's got an emergency stop on her leg," Mike reminded yet again. "I don't know where or how it works, but she can be shut down if she doesn't 'play nice'." He emphasized the last words with quotation hand gestures. "Not that I'm on Baby's side here. I'm just keeping the option open."

Fritz looked like he wanted to decline out of reflex. Unfortunately, while Marionette and Mike were held back by their own uncertainty, Fritz felt the businessman inside him perk at the thought. "If she was safe enough then… Then it would be a great opportunity for the pizzeria. We all are feeling the effects of the increase in customers and kids. There's just too many parties and too many kids, and… And we could really use a female animatronic. I don't mean the Minireenas either; this can't be controlled."

He then gestured back at the fussing Minireenas. Somehow, they had turned their bodies towards each other, and were now trying to climb over each other at the same time. In a way, they were borderline fighting, and neither was getting any closer to escaping their current binding. "I don't remember exactly what was on Baby's blueprints, but I remember an ice cream dispenser. If we had an animatronic dispensing ice cream then we could spend less time in the kitchen. More girls might be interested in coming because of Baby… She's a good investment,  _if she's safe_."

"That's an 'if' that we can't a clear answer for either…" Marionette lamented as he looked back towards the vent. "…But… Perhaps it's worth a try? Maybe… Maybe she really is telling the truth. Maybe the others poisoned her mind, made her do what she tried to do, and she really can be trusted. Then she, Foxy, and I… We could rebuild the family and help the pizzeria grow." He gave a soft chime. "It does feel lonely, sometimes. There used to be so many of us and now it's just Foxy and I."

In a way, Mike didn't want Marionette to agree to Baby coming with them, but he stayed silent on that. Technically, Baby couldn't hurt them anyway; she was slow, hulking figure that would be far away from any sort of scooping mechanism. This felt like it was a bad idea… "So how are we going to move her?" …but Mike wasn't afraid to take a risk.

"I think the van can fit her and carry her weight. It won't fit her and Foxy at the same time," Fritz admitted.

"We'll just ditch Foxy," Mike casually butted in. "Or better yet, Phone Guy can carry him in his car. He is his favorite, after all." With amused smirk, Mike turned back towards the vent, laying a hand on Marionette's back as he did. "You can tell Baby that we're bringing her back with us…" His voice dropped quieter, "And make sure she knows that if she gives us hell, she's going into the haunted warehouse." If it was enough to scare Foxy, hopefully it would intimidate Baby a little bit.

By time Marionette returned to Baby's side, he was already regretting his decision. Looking at her, he really felt that ill, forewarning feeling in his core. This time he forced it down and returned to an even exterior. "We've come to a decision. I'm not fully convinced, but it is a decision nonetheless," Marionette began, "and that is to bring you to the pizzeria with us." Almost immediately, Baby seemed to straighten happily, and he swore he could hear some sort of small squeak of delight.

"...But Baby, if you hurt anyone, if you do anything to hurt anyone… I am not giving you more than one chance," the Puppet firmly stated, raising a single finger. "One chance. You will not hurt anyone, you will forget the desire to be in a human body, and you will be honest. If you are not able to do this, then there will be no more forgiveness."

"I'll do whatever I need to," Baby insisted, her voice returning to its previous normality. Again, it was soft and patient, and no longer held a single trace of her begging and pleading. If anything, she just seemed to sound a little happier. "I promise that I will do whatever I can."

"We'll help you to adjust. We'll show you what you need to do and by time you're on stage, you will be ready to adjust to the children. We won't just throw you to the wolves." Marionette eased in his tone and offered his hand. "We can take this one step of a time, but only if you can do the same." To his delight, she reached back to him. As her large hand clumsily grasped for his, he felt a perk of delight. Maybe, just maybe, he would finally have his sister back.

Moving Baby was a tedious process. It wasn't possible to move her through the vents, so they instead had to move her through a maze of doorways that connected the Circus Gallery, the Ballora Gallery, and the foyer in front of the elevator. Baby did not speak during this process, but she did move on her own. All the humans, mostly Mike and Fritz, had to do was direct her to the elevator. Foxy made his feelings clear by his continued distance to the female clown. Especially since he also kept Jeremy close by, who was holding his new Minireenas close.

Unfortunately, Fritz's earlier predictions were correct. Baby and Foxy couldn't both fit into the van. However, instead of trying to fit Foxy into someone's car, it was just decided that he would wait in Afton's until Fritz returned in the van. Shockingly enough, he allowed Jeremy to head home with the Minireenas, and didn't protest when Marionette went with Fritz and Baby in the van. This just left the fox animatronic, Mike, and Phone Guy who was still in his car. With him and Foxy still on the verge of not talking, Mike decided to sit in Phone Guy's car.

He didn't seem to have been asleep at all, but Mike decided not to inquire about the radio. He suspected too much that the thing he saw and felt in the Circus Module had somehow blocked the radio. Instead, the conversation took a different direction.

"Do you know what Afton did to the animatronics after he dismantled them? Something about 'concept unification'?" the security guard eventually inquired. By now, Fritz was due to be returning shortly and he knew he didn't have much time, but he wanted some sort of clue.

The older man seemed a little surprised by the question. "Uh… Just probably wanted them out of the way. Once they started to fight back, he probably just… Didn't want the risk?" Phone Guy suggested. "Concept unification is just a fancy way of saying that they changed the outside suits and used the same endoskeleton on the inside. It's really impressive to see it in person- I only saw it once, but it was replacing a Bonnie exterior with another Bonnie exterior. So, it really wasn't a unification of concepts. It was more of a Bonnie becoming another Bonnie."

Phone Guy's hands were shaking in his lap. Mike noticed it and briefly let the seemingly standard answer drop. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, this- this is normal. I'd be doing this even if I wasn't out here… But it's probably not helping it being here," Phone Guy admitted as he awkwardly rubbed his hands together. "In case you're wondering, it was a lot worse after my accident. Now it's mostly in my hands and it's mostly under control." This only reassured that Phone Guy had received extensive damage, which Mike already suspected by the missing leg.

"I'm sorry," he apologized out of reflex.

"Don't be. I lived through something that should've killed me. That- That counts for something, right?" the older gave an awkward smile at this point. He did seem a little stressed.

"Thank you for sticking around. I'm not exactly in the position to shoot the breeze with Foxy," Mike pointed out as he glanced to the building. It was then that the previous conversation resurfaced. He focused in on animatronics being repurposed. "…You don't think any of the old Freddy bots were repurposed into something else, do you?" That opened the door for a lot of terrible possibilities. "A lot of the animatronics they had filed away were dismantled. Would he have stuck those in another body?"

"I-… Uh… You know, I don't think so," Phone Guy admitted with a shrug. "Other than the parts used from the old animatronics in the toys, there wasn't a lot of part swapping happening. William was- to be honest- proud of what he created. In a way that he would be too proud to reuse parts. Especially anything that Henry made. They were constantly in competition and… I'm rambling," he finished with a small chuckle. "Don't worry about that. There's too much more to worry about."

"That's true. The pizzeria and everything. Afton's the last person we need to worry about," Mike agreed, not really wanting to think about the man any more than he had to. "What's the chance of him popping back up?"

"I don't- that's not going to happen," Phone Guy bluntly stated. Though he then looked out the window; silently blocking off further questions. Mike looked to him in questioning, though then assumed that Fritz had told him about Golden Bonnie at some point. The rest of the wait was silent until the van returned from the pizzeria. Seeing the van pull into the parking lot, Mike perked and opened the door.

"That's my cue to leave. Think you can get home alright?" Mike asked and Phone Guy looked amused.

"I think I remember how to drive," Phone Guy remarked, "just be careful with that- with Baby, okay?"

"I will. Thanks for coming by," Mike finished and fell silent. It was a weird way to end a conversation, but it wasn't as though he had a better way to finish it. It got a confused look from Phone Guy, but Mike shut the door shortly afterwards and headed over towards the van. Before he could even get a few feet away from the car, the window was suddenly rolled down.

"Mike, wait," the Phone Guy called after him and Mike looked back. After a moment, he returned to the car, leaning down to the window.

"Yeah?" Mike asked, noticing the funny look that was now on Phone Guy's face. "Something wrong?"

It took Phone Guy a moment to get the words out. In this moment, he studied Mike's face, contemplating whether or not he was going to continue. Then he did with a blunt, "You don't know my name, do you?"

" _Geez. He's onto me."_ Mike decided that his only way out was to be quick and concise. "…No." He then patted the roof of the car and turned to leave, "Take care!"

He didn't know if Phone Guy was dumbstruck, amused, or glaring daggers at the back of his head. He didn't look back to check.

* * *

By time Mike got back to the house, Marionette was already waiting for him. It was now pushing the later hours of night, but neither was tired after the lengthy trip. It felt almost jarring to have left Afton's without injury. It was a relief, but it felt strange to have everything go so smoothly. Other than the lingering disturbance that remained of the strange animatronic. Thankfully, Mike had seen not a glimpse of it or felt any sort of sensation that it was looming nearby. Whatever it was, it must have stayed down in Afton's.

So, they settled into a normal night. The TV was on sitcom reruns and Marionette had somehow convinced Mike to play the Fazbear board game once again. He was still running on the post-nightly duties thrill; it felt remarkably like the one he used to get after his nights at Freddy's, but left him vulnerable to agreeing to anything. Thus, here they were moving Freddy and Bonnie around the board. At least Marionette was having a good time. Mike somewhat suspected that this was partially because of Baby's cooperation with everything.

He wanted his sister back. Mike knew it, Marionette was starting to admit it, and Baby was almost willing to go along with it. For now, Baby and Foxy needed their rest, and Marionette had to contain any excitement through brief looks to the sitcom and 'strategizing'. Every few minutes, Mike could hear him singing under his breath.

" _When today becomes tomorrow, will we find joy or sorrow? Sing a song,~"_ Marionette murmured as he proceeded to land on the game's equivalent to Monopoly's community chest. At least he was soothing in his singing, because even with few rules or choice, he was again managing to stay consistently in the lead.

"We need another board game," Mike vocally announced in his own murmur as he went for the dice. He rolled the dice around in his hand before throwing. A three; of course, he couldn't even manage snake eyes. The Puppet gave an amused chime, but remained uninterrupted.

" _Is it wrong? To put all our hopes together and wish for something better, is it wrong?~"_ Now Mike looked upwards to him.

"Sort of a depressing direction, isn't it?" he offered teasingly and glanced over to the TV. He didn't want to watch his competitor's turn; it would just hurt too much.

"Not at all! In fact, personally, the song has always sounded like the beginning to an adventure," Marionette quipped back. "And we could start over if you'd like."

"I'd rather keep the rest of my dignity and lose like a man," Mike pointed out. He was almost immediately followed by a call on his cell, which was resting on the dining room table. It had been off during his trip into Afton's and he had missed multiple calls, but now it was randomly ringing in the middle of the night. His first thought was to ignore it, "What adventure are we on?"

"The adventure of life, of course!" Marionette remarked with a widening smile. Then he looked to the table. "Perhaps you should get that. It could be Fritz."

"It could be my relatives. Anyone calling this late doesn't have good news." Even when saying this, Mike stood to answer the call. "Roll for me." It was late, he was slightly tired, and so he wasn't even thinking as he answered the call. "Hello?" Then the voice came through and he tensed in alarm. Marionette must have noticed, somehow, as he peered around the couch at him. Mike was standing there, almost gawking, as he listened to the voice. Then he choked out a sudden, surprised, "Mom?"

At this point, the words were barely audible. It was just a scrambled mess of weeping and 'oh my goodness, Mikey' and a brick wall of, " _What the hell am I supposed to say now?! Shouldn't have even answered the phone this late!"_ Naturally, Marionette was still watching and could clearly see that the stunned look was still present. It was as though the sheer shock was too much to suppress. If he couldn't outlet it through his voice, or through ending the call, he would just have to stand there looking like he had just learned the meaning of life; if the meaning of life was jarringly uncomfortable.

"Mom, just, stop crying," Mike was nearly begging as he ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, it's been a while…" She was sober, clearly, but she was sobbing so hard that her words were difficult to make out. Meanwhile, Marionette was only seeing half of the conversation, and Mike's relatively reluctant answers weren't helping. He wouldn't be lying if he admitted that he wanted Mike to speak to his mother. Though he had hoped it would be in person and that it would end with a hug or something like it.

Communication didn't improve at first. Mike sat down at the table and small talked his way through whatever questions his mother had for him. He looked uncomfortable, he sounded uncomfortable, and Marionette expected him to fully shut down. To his surprise, eventually Mike broke down and began to respond.

"I'm doing good. I'm a co-owner of a pizzeria," he explained, and continued to answer. "Good, but we're still trying to get footing… Actually, yeah, it does. I don't pay rent, that's not an issue, but everything else is taken care of… Of course, I'm not married… I am in a relationship, but we're not looking to rush into any sort of marriage… Yeah… I miss you too, Mom."

That last line was so stilted. Mike had to force it out and only did so because some part of him still wanted to appease his mother. Even after all these years, something in him forced him to stay civil, honest, and wanted him to keep the conversation open. "We've just had our hands full. Everything has to be in order by the summer, when school lets out, so we're all working overtime. In fact, I did overtime tonight… No, Mom, it was unpaid… No, Mom, I'm a co-owner; there's nobody I can complain to."

Expectedly, the call ended rather abruptly soon after that point. It wasn't until Mike had ended the call and set his phone back down that he felt the backwash of emotions. Failure; after refusing to give in and see her again, he shamelessly spoke to her like it was nothing. Dread; she could appear at his home at any time, completely uninvited. Shame, anger, brief sadness; he wasn't ready to admit to positive emotions. Not when it involved talking with his mother. The last time he had spoken to her, her words were too slurred to keep a real conversation.

"I'm guessing you heard that," Mike spoke as he moved back to his position on the floor and did whatever he could to not look Marionette in the eyes. "That was Mom," he continued as he looked down at the game board now, "Because of course it was Mom." He didn't add anything in after that, so Marionette took his turn.

"I think it's great that you spoke to your mother. You should invite her over when I'm with Baby," the Puppet boldly suggested. This got a half-scoff, half-chuckle out of Mike.

"I don't think one conversation makes up for years of estrangement, Mari," Mike pointed out as he moved Bonnie around the board. "It's a start, but I'm not ready to start house visits. That's going to wait until I'm sane enough to deal with someone snooping around my house." He would stand firm by this. He just wasn't ready to throw himself into rebuilding a relationship, not when the memories were still clearly there.

"Maybe you should at least call her again sometime," Marionette pointed out. "I know I'm an outsider in this situation, but I think it's worth trying to salvage your bond. It doesn't erase what she did in the past, but it could help you in the future…" He was definitely biased. Out of all his relatives, he missed his mother the most. He missed his mother and barely even knew her. All he knew was from pictures and videos, and it frustrated him that there was no way to even engage her. Her soul was long gone, unreachable, and untethered by anything here.

"We'll see," Mike admitted with an unsurprising amount of indifference. "Don't worry about it. We've got enough to deal with tomorrow."

Marionette gave a nod of agreement and proceeded to let the conversation drop. Though only after he reached out, put his hand on Mike's, and added in, "I am proud of you." He didn't dwell on it. That one comment and he let the conversation fall. Mike was only more than happy to return to their game together, to block out any of the deep-rooted emotions that the phone call singlehandedly dredged up on its own. At least they had the evening.

" _There'll be sunshine shining and we'll find the silver lining another day. Tomorrow is another day.~"_


	56. Chapter 56

With the pizzeria closed and the day free, Marionette was overly excited to begin teaching Baby about how to work with them.

As soon as he deemed Mike capable of being home alone, even though Mike was perfectly capable of spending time alone, Marionette teleported to the pizzeria to begin. He wasn't exactly surprised to find that Foxy and Baby had done little interacting. Foxy was currently hidden behind his curtain and Baby was nowhere to be seen.

"Foxy?" Marionette called as he approached the curtain. The purple curtain spread and the fox poked its head out. "Where's Baby?"

"In the kitchen," Foxy announced briskly and simply watched the younger animatronic silently. The Puppet tilted his head in questioning.

"…Bad night with Baby?" he inquired. Foxy disagreed, but he was clearly reluctant to speak. The Puppet tilted his head the other way. "Or is this about me?"

In fact, it was about him. He knew this as soon as Foxy stepped out of the curtain. "I just don't understand why yer doin' this," Foxy admitted. At least he sounded more patient than he did last night. "With Schmidt of all people. Ya need someone with a softer touch. If yer that determined to go fer a human, at least be off with Jer'my. He's a good lad."

"I don't like Jeremy," Marionette insisted. He then back peddled, "No, I mean I like Jeremy, but I don't love Jeremy. He's not my type."

"Course he is! He's a nice lad, ya have a history, he could take care of you. That's more than we can say for Schmidt; he ain't got his act together," Foxy quickly accessed. The Puppet rolled his eyes, though it wasn't very visible so he doubted that his sibling noticed it.

"My, it really sounds like you thought about this, but if you're so certain that he's a good catch then why don't you go for him?" Marionette remarked with a hand wave as he started to head towards the kitchen. Hopefully, Baby would be less than a handful.

"Har har," Foxy flatly remarked in return, "I'm gonna pretend you didn't start suggestin' that." Then he shut the curtain and vanished yet again. An amused smirk passed the Puppet's face before he approached the kitchen. He pushed open the door and found Baby standing inside, facing the far corner.

"Baby?" the Puppet quietly coaxed. Almost immediately, Baby began to turn her body, though it was still an awkwardly slow procedure.

"Marionette, I didn't expect you yet," Baby admitted with a warm tone. She looked to him with a happiness in her blue eyes, "But I'm glad you're here. Do we begin?"

"If you are ready, then I would be glad to!" Marionette chirped with a smile. "Now where do we start…?" He hummed as he accessed over his makeshift plan for the day. "Well, we're already in here, so I suppose we'll start with the kitchen." He splayed his arm around and gestured to the surrounding room. "This is where the pizza is made and the food is kept. Usually I bring the cakes in from home, but we have cake mix here as well, in case you ever want to do baking… Or I could show you how to bake if you'd like."

"I want to know everything," Baby assured, surprisingly entranced by what was being offered.

"Then we will! But first," Marionette lifted a cake tray, "you should get used to carrying these. Sometimes we take the birthday cakes out to the children, so you might want to become comfortable balancing this." He offered it to the clown who took it with her free hand as the other was clinging to her microphone. Almost immediately, the tray slid off of her hand, as her metal hand offered little friction. Both of them stared down at it.

"…We'll work on it!" Marionette assured with an amused chime and beckoned the female. "But first, the rest of the pizzeria." He headed out and Baby followed behind him, squeezing through the doorway and wandering into the dining room. "It's not the most advanced pizzeria just yet, but we have what we need, and the children are quite happy," the Puppet explained. "That's the arcade corner over there, where the children play games and win tokens."

"What do the tokens do? Do they eat them?" Baby inquired in confusion. This question actually confused Marionette, who tried to suppress the look with a blank one.

"No, they trade them for prizes. We'll head there next," Marionette suggested as he turned and continued to the Prize counter. Foxy had appeared from behind the curtain and was watching while Baby apparently noticed the Puppet's tone and defended herself.

"I'm out of practice. It's been so long… Even at my old Pizzeria, I was only there for a short time and I never got to do so much," Baby seemed almost embarrassed by herself. "I can learn."

"Baby, don't worry yourself! This was new to Foxy and I too. It just takes time and patient," Marionette assured as he led her into the Prize Corner. "This is where I mostly stay, the Prize Corner. I wait in my box and children bring in their tokens to exchange for candy, toys, and anything else we have." As Baby looked around, the Puppet scooped a plush that resembled himself into his arms. "Right now there's mostly merchandise styled after Foxy, but I have a few things of my own. Eventually so will you."

"Really?" Baby's eyes scanned the shelf. "Everybody could take a little of me home."

"Right!" Marionette chirped as he squeezed the doll. They would be running low on stock soon and he was considering asking Fritz to put in an order for an alternate plush of himself. After all, Foxy had numerous different kinds, so it only seemed fair to do the same with him. Just the thought took him to a different time and place.

" _How long do you think until they get plush toys of me?" Marionette cooed as he counted through the new supply of plush toys. Goldie was with him in the Prize Corner tonight; a rare event. It was before Midnight, though, and the nighttime security guard had not arrived yet. "I think it's about time!"_

" _I don't think it's really important," Goldie admitted in a somewhat uninterested voice. The Puppet wasn't too surprised._

" _Well, it is to me! I would love to see children cuddling plushes of me," Marionette admitted. Then, as though suddenly remembering, he reached out and gestured to a new drawing on the wall. "Speaking of which, look at this!" He grabbed ahold of it, peeling it off the wall, and flashing it to Goldie. "Look! I can't believe a child-!" His delight was cut off at the vice grip on his wrist. It was seldom that Goldie moved his body, so this only proved how serious it was._

" _Marionette, these things_ _ **don't matter**_ _," Goldie almost scolded the Puppet. "You're losing focus."_

Marionette popped back to the present time with confusion across his face. He hadn't remembered that memory before now. Or, more specifically, that last part. Excusing his forgetfulness, he turned to Baby. "Sometimes I taken tokens to the children, but the basket is easier to carry than the tray, so perhaps you should carry it instead."

The female animatronic's eyes swiveled until she spotted said basket and started to reach for it.

"Don't worry about that now," Marionette insisted, inwardly not wanting to risk them spilling onto the floor and not yet trusting the female's grip.

"I'm capable of holding a basket," Baby remarked as she continued to reach forward. She then grasped the basket and yanked it back. Her grip, not tight enough on the basket, proved to have flaws. It wobbled and then slipped out of the gap between her fingers and thumb, hitting the floor and spilling tokens across it. Baby stared down at the floor with little emotional change. She couldn't really show emotional change, so she instead just had that same smile as she slowly looked back to Marionette. "…Somehow, I am not capable of holding a basket."

This triggered an immediate chime from the Puppet. He tried to suppress it, covering his mouth as though it would help, but was clearly more amused than disappointed. "Oh Baby, don't worry with that! I know how it is- When I first became a puppet, I had almost no control of anything. You are doing much better than I did!" He set the plush down on the counter and started to usher the female back. "Let's just continue with the tour for now, so we don't get distracted over little things." Baby said nothing, but seemed to agree.

"I do leave the Prize Corner for parties or to stretch my legs, but most of the time I stay here," Marionette said as he waited for Baby outside of the door. "It's my way of embracing what I was meant to do. I take tickets, I exchange prizes, and I absolutely love doing it. I love the children; you wouldn't believe how excited they can get!"

"You don't perform on stage?" Baby inquired. "I find that odd. I thought that animatronics were meant to stay on stage… I don't need to tell you of what Afton's thought about animatronics leaving their stages. I could tell you horror stories that I heard about Ballora, but I think I should not." It was obvious that the female clown was much more skeptical about the scenario than he expected. Begging for freedom or not, Baby clearly wasn't stupid; she knew that it was very likely that she was walking back into servitude.

Thankfully, Marionette was confident that this wasn't the case. "Most pizzerias, yes, we would be restricted… But this is our pizzeria. Our human companions are our friends, they know about our delicate situation, and they could care less," the Puppet insisted. "They know who pulls the strings," he coyly quipped before adding in quietly. "It's Foxy. If he gets fussy, the day is doomed."

"I heard that," Foxy grouched from over by the curtains.

"Prove me wrong," Marionette challenged playfully as he intended to lead Baby back through. To his surprise, Foxy actually stepped forward for this challenge. He outright approached Baby and cut off the Puppet.

"Baby, I knew yer not used to this. Seein' what was goin' on down there… I know ya aren't too confident with all this, but here me out; once yer one of Foxy's crew, the waters get calm. May not be the most excitin' life, but we're doin' good work. We're helped the kids, one party at a time," Foxy explained. His amount of passion actually surprised the Puppet. Though he wasn't too surprised when the fox added in, "Besides, it gets us out in public without landlubbers losin' their heads over it."

"I don't understand… But if it is as good as you say, then I think I will be happy here. Anything is better than the cold," Baby admitted. She then looked around the room, barely moving her head but scanning her eyes around the room. "It's just so warm here. It feels warm and alive." Of course, Foxy and Marionette both understood. If anything, they understood too well, and Foxy moved to step in.

"Come with me. I'll show ya the arcade," Foxy coaxed as he headed towards the arcade cabinet for a familiar and specific game. More than likely, Foxy wanted an excuse to use a few tokens on the 'Sit and Survive' game, this time with the excuse of showing Baby. "Marion, mind grabbin' a few tokens?"

With a chime, Marionette eagerly turned and headed to retrieve the items in question. While there, he picked up the basket and remaining tokens and set them on the counter. Then he headed back out. It wasn't until he was back in the dining room that he heard the two speaking to each other.

"-but I don't remember anything from before," Baby recited. "I don't even remember becoming this… One day I just existed in this body." She sounded just as perplexed at the situation. "…Why?"

"I was just wonderin' if you remembered yer family is all," Foxy said. He hesitated before adding in, looking back at the much taller female. "We're siblings too. Marion's not just yer brother, he's mine, so I'm yer brother too."

"You… You are?" As though Baby couldn't be any more uncertain. "We meant when we were humans."

"Aye, so did I," Foxy revealed. "I was yer older brother… I remember you as a human girl."

"But I-… I don't remember you." Whatever Baby was going to originally break in with was tossed aside for the more blatant fact; she remembered absolutely nothing about him.

"It's okay, Lass," Foxy quietly assured, "it's better that way."

It was only now, when silence took over, that Marionette moved in and handed over the tokens. Foxy eagerly slipped them in and took ahold of the controls, prepared to begin the game as his siblings watched. Though while he did, Marionette felt his mind wander again. He thought about the others. He thought about Goldie, about the past… About Balloon Boy.

_Balloon Boy could only communicate through laughter and whispers, so to have a conversation involved kneeling on the floor and scooting as close as possible. Thankfully, while Balloon Boy was considered a nuisance to others, he had a more playfully friendly side to him. He loved to whisper about the things he had seen. He loved to tell Marionette about the funny things that the human children had done._

_At this time, it hadn't been too long after Marionette became the Puppet, so he was still considerably a child. Taking this in, he was the youngest, save Balloon Boy. Not that he truly knew Balloon Boy's age, but he certainly acted younger than the others. They were currently together in the corner of the dining hall. The pizzeria was closed for the day and allowed them more access to moving around without the risk of any humans spotting them. Yet this wasn't too last for them._

" _Go to the office." The sudden command throbbed in Marionette's head as Goldie's booming voice interrupted his discussion with Balloon Boy. Maybe Balloon Boy heard it too, as he grew immediately and uncomfortably silent right afterwards._

" _Is there someone here?" Marionette questioned back and suspicion took hold. He could already imagine the Purple Man sneaking in on a day when they were closed to hide evidence. Though this wasn't the case._

" _No. I want you to go to the office and confiscate the Freddy mask from the desk." Goldie had told him to do this before, and he did, but it never changed anything. They always supplied the night guard with another one before his next shift. As such, Marionette wasn't exactly confident in this plan. Though he also didn't think it was that dire… But he didn't protest._

_Marionette raised from his kneeling, gave Balloon Boy a silent nod, and made his way to the office. Once inside, he quickly removed the mask and, noticing the package of batteries inside, took those as well. Then he left and headed towards the Prize Corner to hide them. For a brief second he felt a sort of success, that he had succeeded in doing something great, even with these small efforts-._

" _I shouldn't have to ask you to do this. Get on the clock, Mari. You have work to do." But Goldie always had the last say._

By time Marionette drifted back out of the memory, Baby was looking to him again, seemingly bored by the game. The Puppet recovered quickly, "He's bound to be lost for a while. Let's just quickly finish out the tour." The rest of the 'tour' was barely anything more than pointing out the office, the bathrooms, and the back door. Especially the back door, considering that Marionette didn't trust it very much. He always worried that someone would try and sneak a child out of the back.

"Mostly you will just need to stay in the main room. Unless you get too overworked; then the kitchen is the best option to escape the children," Marionette assured. He wanted her to know that there was an escape if she needed it. "Other than that, all you need to do is keep the children entertained. Talk to them, sing to them, and make sure to interact especially with the birthday boy or girl. It's really that easy." Easy enough, he supposed. "But of course, you can do a bit more than us."

"…Yes, I can. Maybe it'll make up for the trouble with my hands," Baby slowly inquired, as though uncomfortable. "I think I can still fill balloons if I get a new air tank… But I can't make ice cream any longer. I- I tried last night, but it didn't work." Suddenly, Baby was becoming nervous, and becoming nervous fast. "And I don't think I can… Handle being alone with the children."

"Lass, we wouldn't do that," Foxy called over as he slipped another token into the arcade machine. "Not on yer first day 'specially."

"Right," Marionette agreed, "and Fritz could take a look inside and fix-."

"No!" Baby immediately shot down. After a few seconds, noticing Marionette just staring, she attempted to defend herself. "No, I can't- I won't let him work on me. I don't want him- I don't want anyone  _looking_ and  _touching_ underneath my plates." After this firm tone, Baby's voice softened to an apologetic one. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," Marionette assured, voice a bit quieter than before. Perhaps because he understood too well. He was comfortable with the touch of a familiar human, as was Foxy, but Baby was not. Baby didn't know Fritz or Mike from the humans that had worked in Afton's. Especially considering that it was  _him_ who had been tainting their programming for his own means. "It's fine. I understand."

Baby slowly relaxed once more and Foxy stepped in to change the conversation. It wasn't that surprising; Foxy probably was tired of the uncomfortable direction the conversation was going in. That or he ran out of tokens, and the Puppet could believe either. Maybe Foxy could help return the mood to a more positive one, and in the meantime Marionette could try to figure out what they would start with. Perhaps he would show her how to bake, just in case she would take to it like he had.

He couldn't remember what Goldie had done for him on his first days. They were too cloudy to remember. Yet other memories had been resurfacing today and, while Marionette originally welcomed them, they were steadily bringing down his originally bright mood. Perhaps this was because he knew that Goldie would've never agreed to something like this. Not bringing in Baby- Goldie probably wouldn't even care- but him willingly working at a pizzeria. He knew that it was supposed to be a means to an end…

" _When our happiest day comes, we'll finally be free," Goldie assured as he quietly took in the thought. He seemed so calmed by it; as though the prospect alone made him that happy. "I will go first, I'm sure, but then you will follow me. We will finally find peace in the endlessness beyond this pizzeria."_

" _That sounds wonderful," Marionette quipped, trying to lighten the mood, "but maybe I'd like to stay here longer. Do I get a choice?" To his surprise, Goldie's response took a few moments. Then he spoke in a supportive and utterly warm voice, as though comforting a scared child._

" _Mari," he nearly cooed in assurance, "why would you need a choice?"_

This time, Marionette noticed the disturbing pattern. He had been thinking too much about Goldie today, but they weren't happy memories. These were the things that he hadn't wanted to remember. Things that he had pushed aside because Goldie was his friend and because he took such care of him. Without the bear, he would have never became what he was, and even though Goldie saw being an animatronic as a curse, Marionette was embracing it like a new beginning. Goldie would've never agreed to keeping Freddy's, or Foxy's, alive.

Though he couldn't forget that Goldie had a good reason why. He used to tell all the stories of children who had been snatched by the Purple Man and were lost forever. He used to lament every tale, but he told them regardless, and suffered the burden. It only made sense that Marionette would do what he could when Goldie had to suffer such a load. Even now, Marionette didn't know which story had been his. Goldie never admitted to his actual death, but he suspected that it didn't happen too long before his own.

In reality, Goldie had been wonderful to him. He only wanted the best for him. After all, just like Goldie used to say-

" _If you fail, you aren't letting me down; you're risking the lives of dozens of children."_

Oh dear. Marionette had forgotten that one too… Just hearing it again made Marionette inwardly shudder. He knew there were happy times; what happened to all of his happier memories with Goldie? Was it because Baby's existence was evidence that Goldie had kept things hidden? Was it because Goldie would've never accepted any of this chosen lifestyle? The Puppet shrugged it off as he noticed Foxy's jovial tone.

"Ah, the Pirate song! Lemme teach you; we'll be able to do a duet. Don't give me that look, it ain't that hard!"

Oh dear, the Pirate Song was returning. Marionette's smile returned as he followed after the two. Maybe Goldie wouldn't have been happy, but he was. Goldie was happy in the afterlife and Marionette would continue to find his own happiness his own way. His guardian was gone, but he would survive.

Goldie couldn't protect him anymore… But Goldie couldn't pull his strings anymore either.

So, with that, he joined back in with Foxy and Baby, trying not to show any sort of alarm when Foxy became determined to teach Baby the Pirate Song. Finally, his mind was clear.

_Everything felt wrong and weak. As he tried to move his body and muscles, he felt a lack of control, and could barely move his much too heavy body. He couldn't speak either; every time he tried, he could hear strange, mechanical noises. Everything was wrong and he tried to focus through the darkness. Somehow, his blurry vision recognized the Pizzeria, and almost immediately the fear crept back in. He struggled to free his body, trying to free himself from whatever he was hanging from._

_Before he could, not that he could, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. Through the haze, he could see the towering form of a bear. Memories returned immediately; he suddenly remembered getting closer and closer to the teeth- Another cracking chime and he broke down into sobbing. He didn't understand what was happening. Where was everyone else? Had they noticed what happened? Is this what happened when the animatronics- or when he- got ahold of you? He was in a panic, but he couldn't react because he could barely move._

" _It's okay," a familiar voice coaxed. He slightly calmed down as he recognized the voice of his stuffed bear. "You'll hurt yourself if you struggle. You're fine now. Nobody can hurt you here." The bear reached out and he tried to shrug back, but he couldn't escape. Yet the touch was gentle. A large hand settled on his cheek, gently holding his head, and he could feel even more familiarity from the bear. It was his friend._

" _You'll be staying with me for now," his friend murmured. Then his voice changed. His friend had never sounded so sad, "…I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry…"_

* * *

After a few rings, there was an answer. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me!" Natalie chirped into the receiver. "Fritz and I are going out for dinner. Want to come?" Mike sounded relatively lethargic on the other side; typical of him on a day off.

"You're inviting me on your date?" Mike asked with amusement. "I don't think I'm willing to be a third wheel for a possibility of a free meal."

"We're getting tacos. This isn't exactly a romantic date," Natalie pointed out before sending a playful smile over towards Fritz, who was driving. "And I'm calling Jeremy next. If you're that uncomfortable, then he can be your date."

"I rather be a third wheel than be obligated to buy someone else dinner," Mike remarked. Then he led into a defeated tone; hunger beat out being able to take the day fully off. "Alright, fine. I'll meet you over there. It's the place by the bowling alley?"

"You got it. See you in a little bit," Natalie finished and ended the call. "Mike's in. Now time to check in on Jeremy." She quickly dialed again and waited for the male to pick up. Unlike Mike, Jeremy took longer to answer his phone. Long enough that she originally thought he wasn't going to answer.

"Hello?" Jeremy's voice was rather groggy. As though he had just woken up.

"Hey, it's Natalie. Mike, Fritz, and I are going for tacos. It's not a date or anything, it's just a bunch of friends going out. Want to tag along?" Natalie could already guess the answer when Jeremy took an unnaturally long time to respond. "…Uh, Jere?"

"I…I don't think I can," he admitted, awkwardly fumbling with the phone. "I can't really leave right now. I'm just-." A sudden crashing noise interrupted the explanation. "I have to go!"

"What was that?" Natalie asked with growing dread.

"I-I have to go! I'll call you back!" Jeremy blurted out before ending the call immediately. Natalie was left holding her cell in confusion. She ended the call and looked to Fritz again.

"That didn't sound right at all," Natalie admitted with growing concern. "I don't know. Do you think it was because of last night?"

"He took home two more Minireenas, so maybe. It can't be easy trying to reel them in," Fritz admitted with an inward shudder. To be entirely honest, Fritz never felt comfortable with the Minireenas. Their empty eyes and quiet giggles were completely unnerving, even when he was certain that they weren't a real danger to him. "We can pick him up something and use that to get inside the house."

"Huh, a bribe. I think I've seen you use those tactics before," Natalie said coyly. For a split second, Fritz looked flustered, and Natalie felt the growing heat in her face. "But, uh, yeah. Anything to get us through the front door." It wasn't like Jeremy sounded like he was ready to fight to keep them out. Hopefully, food would get them through the door.

It didn't take long to get there and to get a table. The restaurant itself was mostly casual; not fast food but not quite fine dining. Something easier than trying to get dressed up for. Natalie had a suspicion that they would've have a harder time convincing Mike if it had been one of those places. It didn't take too long or Mike to appear and conversation started. Though it bobbled back and forth; between Jeremy, Natalie's family, and the overly fruity drink that Mike ordered, it tended to bounce around to weird subjects.

"You're lucky that we're not here with my brothers. Mom had to take Olive to the dentist and I was about two seconds away from getting wrangled into watching them," Natalie admitted as she circled a chip around in the bowl of guacamole. "I'm about ready to find a new place."

"Fritz's always opened," Mike mentioned as he glazed through the menu. He didn't even seem to be paying attention to what he was saying. Natalie did though, and her eyes went straight to Fritz. For a few seconds, Fritz looked like a deer in headlights, but this look suppressed itself as a more confident one took hold.

"That's… Not actually a bad idea. If you want to, I mean," Fritz remarked. This would be much faster than when he moved in with Dinah, but his relationship with Natalie had already been progressing faster. Mostly because they had been able to forgo the 'awkward' stage of dating that usually came from dating someone who you originally knew nothing about. Then again, he thought he knew Dinah before she suddenly became so adamant against the pizzeria idea. "I have another bedroom. It wouldn't be like I was forcing you to sleep with me."

Serious and innocent comment or not, Natalie couldn't resist a light snicker. "Oh no, I can't possibly see this as a mistake," she sarcastically joked. That aside, it was a tempting offer. "…I don't know. I just know that my family is too big for the house as it is. If I left, there would be a free bedroom for Marcus. He's a teenager now; he can't keep sharing a bedroom with two other kids. It's just too uncomfortable…" Not to mention, she wouldn't have to lock her bedroom door and wouldn't have to keep lying about her occupation.

"My door's always open," Fritz reassured, "and… we don't have to make it complicated. We don't have to split all the utilities or anything."

"Well, I'd want to contribute somehow. I'm sure we could- Mike, stop giving me that look," Natalie flatly commanded at Mike's extremely obvious smirk being sent across the table. "That's not what he meant."

Before Mike could retort, his cell phone rung, and he briefly faltered as he went to answer it. However, he did, and both of his companions noticed the immediate discomfort across his face. "Oh, hey. I… Didn't expect for you to call… Yeah, mostly. I'm just out with a couple of coworkers." Mike averted eye contact as he continued the stiff conversation on the phone. While he did, Natalie quietly spoke to Fritz.

"My dad would freak if he found out that we were living together. He's not into living together before marriage," Natalie pointed out. Then, seeing Fritz's quirked brow, she added in, "That's not a suggestion."

"No, I'm just wondering if I should expect him to pop up while we're here." This was a joke, but Natalie continued looking serious, so Fritz couldn't help but take it as a bad sign.

It didn't take Mike long to hang up. "I need a drink," he muttered as he flipped over the menu to scan through the very small alcohol section.

"I hate to break it to you, but that glass of fruit cocktail beside you is your drink," Natalie quipped, hoping to ease the mood. Mike didn't seem very impressed. "Are you okay? Who was that, Mari?"

"Nah, it was… My mom. Mari's over with Foxy and Baby," Mike forced out. He hoped that the immediate change in conversation topic would possibly lead to a lack of continuing question. Unfortunately, Fritz caught on to what he said.

"You're talking to your mother again…?" the technician sounded surprised and Mike continued to eye the drink list, unable to focus enough to decide.

"Unfortunately, yes. I answered the phone the other day and unintentionally opened that door back up," Mike lamented. "Let's just not talk about it. It'll kill the evening."

"It's either your mom or Natalie's dad," Fritz pointed out, "…Or Jeremy. We're heading over to see him after dinner if you want to come with. There's a chance that he's in over his head."

Mike considered this; it wasn't like Marionette would be home. Before he could even agree or disagree, he suddenly focused in on what he was doing. It took a moment to truly sink in, but then it suddenly hit him. An overwhelmingly sick feeling settled in as he closed the menu and set it aside. "Never mind," he quietly muttered. Thankfully, Fritz and Natalie didn't seem to fully acknowledge his comment, so they didn't ask questions. He wouldn't fall into the same trap that his mother did; he wasn't going to start drinking to deal with stress.

"I'll go with you. Half of those animatronics he has are technically my fault," Mike admitted with at least a moderate amount of forced amusement. He then forced down a swig of the overly fruity beverage. Maybe he was imagining it, but he swore he could taste faint alcohol in it.

Needless to say, the drink went abandoned for the rest of the night.


	57. Chapter 57

By time Mike, Fritz, and Natalie got to Jeremy's house, the weather was taking a turn. The peaceful sky from earlier was blanketed in darkening grey clouds, forewarning a coming storm on the horizon. Almost as though foreshadowing the visit itself. They approached the eerily quiet door and Mike took the liberty of knocking. It took a few moments before footsteps could be heard and only then did Jeremy open the door. He looked flustered at best and exhausted at worst.

"O-Oh, hey!" Jeremy greeted with a smile. "What are you guys doing here? I thought you were going to eat."

"We did," Mike curtly responded. Then did a quick assessment over Jeremy's condition. He was dressed casually, as though he had no intention to leaving today- which Mike could fully relate to. However, he did notice a new bandage wrapped around his thumb. It looked like the one Fritz had, but he didn't think that Fritz said he was bitten by a Minireena.

"We brought food," Natalie volunteered as she lifted the bag of takeout. This seemed to pique Jeremy's interest, but he was hesitant to let them in.

"Thanks, that's… That's really great of you guys, but I don't- You don't want to come in here. The place is a mess," Jeremy awkwardly squeaked out. Almost immediately after saying that, something scurried past the door. Mike looked down with piqued confusion. After a few moments, a tiny face peered out from behind Jeremy's leg. Not even looking down, he tried to 'subtly' beckon her back.

"Is that Daisy?" Natalie asked, her smile returning at seeing the Minireena. Jeremy forced out a positive reply and Natalie crouched down. "Hello, Daisy. How are you today?"

Daisy stared at Natalie for a moment before turning her head and burying her face into Jeremy's leg. She grabbed on his pants and clung to him. It was a very odd gesture for the small doll. Daisy was usually rather predictable; giggling constantly and getting into everything that she could. Yet here she was looking clearly upset. "Not so good, huh?" Natalie encouraged sympathetically.

This was promptly followed by a strange thumping noise from inside the house. Jeremy inhaled sharply, "Give me a minute-!" and went to push the door to closed. Almost immediately, Mike snapped his hand out and caught it. This caused Jeremy to hesitate for a split second. "Just- I'll be right back," Jeremy stuttered and disappeared into the house, abandoning the three, and Daisy, in the doorway.

"…So, we're in agreement; something's clearly going on?" Natalie asked the others and stood again. There were a couple of agreements and they patiently waited for Jeremy to return. Right when Mike was prepared to let himself in, Jeremy returned.

"So, uh, I- I'm a little busy," Jeremy tried to excuse. "I'm having a little trouble with- with the new Minireenas. They're a little bit of a handful…" This was the first time that he let his stress slip through.

"How bad is it?" Mike blankly and bluntly challenged. This was rewarded with a few moments of silence. Jeremy stared at him with a flustered look. Then he opened the door to let them in.

"They  _hate_ me," Jeremy admitted as they stepped in. While the house looked to be in okay condition, Mike immediately spotted cereal spilt on the kitchen floor. This is what led him to the top of the fridge where he could see a Minireena holding herself into a basic pose. As though it was that innocent, even it was very clear that Minireena had thrown down the box. "They're not like Daisy at all. They just… They really hate me."

"They don't hate you, Jeremy," Fritz encouraged. "Daisy wasn't exactly perfect when you first got her. She gave you plenty of problems."

"She didn't do this!" Jeremy protested. "They- They'll destroy anything they can get their hands on! They broke my glasses, my contact lens case is gone, and the Magician- Every time they climb on him, he shrieks, and this happens in the middle of the night too!" A day and night of exasperation came out in full force. "I just- I don't understand what I did wrong this time! What did I do differently?!"

"He  _shrieks?_ " Mike clarified with a look of near disbelief.

"He screams and flails his arms. It's the most I've heard him speak or seen him move," Jeremy admitted and followed by tiredly sinking onto the couch. He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his face. "Everything was supposed to go so smoothly. I already had their names, I already made them beds… I thought Daisy would help them calm down…" Partially feeling like he was at fault, Fritz sat down beside the younger and laid a sympathetic hand on his back.

A small hiss alerted both to the fact that another Minireena was beside the couch. It had climbed enough to peer over the arm and, even with its constant smile, it seemed to be glaring.

"That's Rose," Jeremy quietly introduced. "…She's the nicer of the two." Fritz decided to not even ask any further and simply accepted it as fact.

"You don't have to do through this," Fritz assured. "We still have the warehouse and the pizzeria. If they're too much handful, you don't have to keep them here."

"I can't do that to them," Jeremy sighed in dismissal. "…Or Foxy. Him and Daisy already have issues of their own…" He rubbed over his face wearily as 'Rose' disappeared behind the couch and vanished. The third Minireena was currently trying to climb into the cabinets above the fridge, but Jeremy had already taken precautions to rubber band them closed.

Mike lifted the box of cereal and closed it, saving what was left, and placed it back on the fridge. He was rewarded with more hissing, though this one also had a bit of a vocal whine on it. "Stop that," Mike answered, unenthused by the noise. "Unless you're hiding claws, that's not scaring anyone." He placed the cereal box back into place while the Minireena climbed down onto the counter and hurried off.

"That's Forget-Me-Not," Jeremy butted in. "She's, uh…"

"Should've been forgotten?" Mike guessed and while Jeremy didn't look content, he didn't say anything further. Smirking to himself, the security guard stepped over the cereal and headed towards the Magician at the corner of the dining room. He had seen him when he first entered, but waited until now to approach. He knelt down beside him with a playful smile. "How's it going,  _Max_? Any spontaneous flailing?"

The Magician's eyes slid over so that he could look at the human. "I saw your file. So, your gimmick is card play?" Mike offered with full amusement. He didn't expect much of a reaction. As the amusement returned to normality, he actually got a moment of reassurance. "If you ever need a night away from the dolls, we could go somewhere and compulsively gamble."

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Mike hadn't expected the response, especially not the cockiness that it held. "…What's that mean?" the human asked with his smile entirely diminished with his growing suspicion.

The Magician kept his voice low. Which was great for Mike, as he added in the next words, "I know what you've been doing." While Mike tried to keep his face flat, even though his panic was slowly starting to grow, the Magician seemed much too confident. "It's got to be nice having a plush toy to take to bed with you."

"Don't you even-," Mike began, growling out the warning mutter. He promptly caught himself and glanced over at the others. Jeremy and Fritz didn't notice, Natalie was currently moving to sweep the cereal into a dustpan, and none of the Minireenas cared. Assured that nobody heard him, he looked back to the Magician. "You don't know what you're talking about, and if you start spreading that then you'll just get Mari in trouble."

A light chuckle came from the Magician, quiet enough that nobody could hear it, and he slightly turned his head. "I think he's already in enough trouble as it is…" Something sounded a little too foreboding about that comment. At first, Mike thought he was talking about himself, but then realized that this wasn't the case. His gaze narrowed in confusion.

"What are you saying?" Mike murmured.

"Everyone's going to have their eyes on Baby," the Magician quipped. "That's probably for the best. Don't leave any of the kiddies alone." Then, suddenly, what started as a joking revelation about Mike's relationship turned into an ominous warning. The Magician seemed more reluctant to talk as Fritz and Jeremy stood, talking about looking for the contact lenses again.

As they passed into the hallway, Mike looked back to the Magician. "Let's not play around here, Max. What do you know about Baby?"

"That 'sweet' and 'innocent' performer was gone a long time ago," the Magician forewarned. "There's a lot of lies. Maybe a change; maybe all that time stuck down in that place brought out some true fear… _She_ was never scared of anything-." He suddenly cut off as Natalie came a little too close. Suddenly, the conversation was cut short. "I can't talk."

"I could really use a little directness on this whole thing," Mike insisted with a growing determination. He demanded more, "Is Baby going to hurt someone?"

The Magician paused for a few more moments and then rushed out an answer right before Fritz and Jeremy reappeared. "I don't know." He was completely straight with this, which concerned Mike more. "Marionette should watch his back… You know, when you don't have your hands all over him." With that cheeky comment, the Magician finished by completely losing all credibility.

The next hour or so was devoted to helping Jeremy clean his house. There was a surprising amount of glass in the carpet, this was clearly how Jeremy originally injured his thumb, and finding the contact lens case involved moving a dresser out of the way. All in all, a brief visit became a project. While Jeremy was trying to get his contact lenses in, having not used them in some time, the three remaining humans coerced in the living room.

"I don't want to take one of them home, but I feel like I should offer," Fritz admitted to the other two. He certainly did look a little remorseful. "I mean, geez, I could've made them like this by belting them together."

"That didn't help, but if you had to go that far then there was already a problem," Natalie defended him. "I'd offer to take one, but I can't risk it with a full house… Maybe Daisy, if I could keep her hidden." Then she looked toward Mike. "What about you, Mike? You've got four bedrooms at your disposal."

"Afraid not. Those bedrooms are currently holding all the skeletons that wouldn't fit in the closets," Mike denied instantly. "One animatronic is enough for me. Mari'll get attached and I'll get stuck with them as a permanent fixture… Speaking of which, I probably need to head back. He'll be home soon." The security guard sent a lingering look in the Magician's direction. The animatronic wouldn't make eye contact. "I want to be home when he gets there." He checked his watch attentively.

It was now when Jeremy wandered out. "I think they're hiding in the back for now… I'm just going to leave them be. They need their space." His voice sounded so defeated as he sat down at the table and opened the to go container with the food that was brought. "Thanks for coming over."

"Don't mention it!" Natalie assured with a warm smile. "You just take care. If you need help, you can ask us."

"I know, I just- I didn't want you all thinking I couldn't handle this," Jeremy said as he looked to the food instead of them. "I-I really think that if I can get Rose and Forget-Me-Not to trust me, they'll be just as sweet as Daisy… But I don't know how to get there."

"How'd you get there the first time?" Fritz asked curiously. "I sort of thought that she and you got closer over time."

"It- Almost. She wasn't… It was when I started giving her the dresses and treating her like- well, my baby, that she started to relax around me. I can't do that with the other two; they'd never let me hold them or dress them," Jeremy pointed out.

"Maybe not, but if you give Daisy that treatment in front of them then maybe it'll interest them. That's what my mom does. Instead of punishing, she overly praises and rewards the good kids. It might be able to tempt them," Natalie suggested. Though even she wasn't that confident in the idea herself, it seemed like the best option if Jeremy wasn't capable of approaching the Minireenas. "Maybe try it out."

"…I can do that," Jeremy quietly answered. He then looked back over the living room, "Daisy?" The Minireena immediately sprinted over to the man and eagerly climbed his leg and into his arms. Thankfully, Daisy was more than happy to receive the extra affection.

Mike decided that now was the time to let himself out. "I need to head out, if you'll be okay," Mike suggested and Jeremy nodded.

"Don't worry about it. Thanks for coming at all. I really appreciate it." Jeremy finally managed to get a content smile. Finally, after all of this, he looked happy again.

Yet as Mike left the house, he found that he was now the one who was discontent. Once home, he was stuck with his thoughts, and they bothered him immensely. It didn't help when his mother proceeded to call again, though this time Mike didn't answer. Between her and Baby, Mike was losing all trust in reuniting with old family. There was always a catch; either it was extremely uncomfortable or they were trying to kill you. It also didn't help that nighttime set in and Marionette had still not returned. Thankfully, before he had the chance to drive over to the Pizzeria, Marionette abruptly appeared.

Marionette returned home in a bubbly mood. It wasn't really easy to teach Baby everything over again, but she was taking to it well. By the end, they were actually having fun. It was only a matter of time before they were exchanging ideas on face painting and venting to each other about Foxy; or, at least, Marionette hoped it would eventually get to that. He wanted a relationship with Baby. He wanted to have his sister come back to him. Noticing Mike on the couch, he called to him with a chirp of, "I'm home!"

Mike felt at least a little relief. At least he was home now. "Hey," he greeted, trying not to sound as solemn as he was feeling. "How'd it go?" He attempted to cover anything that the other could notice.

"Better than I could've imagined! Baby might even be ready for opening tomorrow," Marionette suggested as he looked over the back of the couch. Then he took one look at Mike, looking listless, and inquired, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Mike excused quickly. "Baby was fine? She didn't do or say anything weird?"

"No, she was fine. Something's wrong."

Mike thought that he sounded somewhat convincing, but he could tell the Puppet was suspicious. He got a slight tilt to the head and continued to stare without a word. He could tell on his own, and Mike inwardly grumbled at it. Funny, Fritz and Natalie had bought that he was fine, but yet again, Marionette spotted something that he couldn't cover. He decided just to go halfway and deal with his own problem, starting to consider that the Magician's warning was exaggerated. He leaned back on the couch, "Hey, do you think I drink too much?"

"Alcohol or fluids in general?" He folded his arms on the back of the couch and peered down at the human. His tone was gentle and he was attempting to keep the conversation light. It was obvious that he knew exactly what to say when Mike started bringing up certain topics. Normally, Mike understood it, as he did the same thing numerous times. Tonight, however, self-consciousness started to sneak in.

" _He probably already knows what I'm getting at_ ," Mike thought.  _"Just like Fritz- everybody knows about this thing with Mom. Years of keeping it together and now everyone thinks I've got problems."_ He hated it. He hated that everyone now knew about something that was supposed to be left in the past. Only when his life is pulling together does she appear again and, once again, it's already tearing it back apart. "You know."

"I don't notice it," Marionette remarked. "You seldom go out and I only remember one night in particular when you came back unable to walk straight… Though I know you don't." His teasing tone unintentionally made Mike feel a little more self-aware of how childish this all was. He wasn't supposed to still be worrying about the past; he didn't even have to answer his phone. "What brought this on?" The Puppet sent a brief, barely noticeable and accusatory glance towards the television. If only it was that easy.

"I went out earlier… It's nothing, don't worry about it," Mike back-peddled, wanting out of the conversation before any more pieces were clicked together. "Just something on my mind. It's no big deal…" He flicked through the channels, trying to look casual, before looking out of the corner of his eye. The Puppet was still watching him with concern, but didn't seem to have gotten what he was hinting at. Part of him wanted it out in the open and he reluctantly let it slip. "Mom called again."

He kept an eye on Marionette's expression. Almost instantly after the comment, Marionette slight look of concern changed to his almost default smile. It didn't take Mike more than a few seconds to realize that the Puppet's 'smile' was actually him covering up some sort of other reaction.  _"Clever,"_ he inwardly was smirking,  _"he's almost as bad as I am."_ He pushed himself upwards from the couch. "I think I'm going to turn in early tonight." To be completely honest, he just didn't want to deal with it any longer, and hiding in sleep seemed like a good idea.

As he turned down the TV's volume with the remote, a warm hand slid onto his shoulder. "Are you sure?... You don't have to," Marionette coaxed, seeming rather clingy all of a sudden. "We could… Watch a movie? Or play a game. We don't even have to talk." Yeah, that last comment did it. Mike knew Marionette knew everything and had to flee before he somehow got into another 'mom' breakdown. He didn't need another one of those. He couldn't help but feel a little bad about abandoning Marionette though.

"Eh, I think I'm about ready to sleep," Mike assured and briefly laid his hand on the Puppet's before moving to stand. "You'll be fine without me?"

"…I will. Don't worry about me," Marionette assured. "I can keep myself busy. Just… Know that I will be awake if you need me." The worry was still there, but he decided not to pry more than he needed to. If Mike needed his space then so be it.

"Right," Mike agreed and headed into the hall. Then he hesitated a moment and added in, "Don't worry about waking me up when you come in."

That was definitely an invitation and Marionette recognized it immediately. There was still no sort of spoken rule about when they shared a bed or not, but he assumed when Mike decided to go through the effort of being alone that he would be spending the night in his box. It was an offer that he wouldn't turn down. "I won't be too long. I don't have too much I need to do tonight."

Then Mike continued down the hall to the master bedroom, partially noticing that the Puppet was following him from the shadow cast from the living room light into the dark hallway. He paused at the door and glanced back, wondering if he was going to say more.

"I love you," Marionette added in. His tone had grown considerably smaller and his worry was becoming more apparent. Again, Mike used humor to assure him.

"Try not to completely destroy the house before I get up… Worse than I already have," Mike quipped and sent the Puppet a smile. The animatronic seemed a little more honest in his own smile, but didn't immediately leave. Almost as though he was expecting him to say something more. For a split second, Mike wondered if he was waiting for him to return the previous words. "Good night," and then he headed into the bedroom, deciding that he would rather hide than deal with another emotional issue.

The bed was still cold regardless.

* * *

Between the heavy rain on the roof and the growing wind, Foxy had a feeling that the storm wouldn't be gone by morning. That couldn't be good for the pizzeria. With an exhale, the fox moved back in, away from the windows and into the protective blocking of the walls. "Looks like this isn't stopping anytime soon," he called over to Baby, who was currently looking inside the skill crane. They hadn't spoken much since Marionette left, but it was more of a content silence than any sort of disturbed one. "We'll be lucky if we don't flood."

"Does that happen a lot?" Baby curiously asked. "Doesn't it… Wash into those holes on the sidewalks? The drains?"

"Aye, but with a torrent like this it won't hold it all," Foxy assured with a nod. He crossed over and sat down on a chair, which creaked under his weight. "Might be cancelling school… Hmm… Might keep the kids at home." He didn't know where he was going, but it was better than silence. "Tell me a story, Lass."

"About what?" Baby inquired, turning to him.

"About you," Foxy encouraged. "Tell me somethin' about Afton's… Hell, tell me 'bout this Ennard." Foxy wasn't one to beat around the mulberry bush- pun almost intended- and took the blunt approach.

"Ennard…?" Baby got an uncomfortable twitch to her eyes. The blue orbs suddenly decided to dart around a bit faster. "Why do you want to know about him?"

"Just curious. You all were one being… What it be like?" In fact, Foxy was generally curious. He missed Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie, but he couldn't imagine them all being willingly stuck together. "Ya feel… Like one person? Ya ever get fooled on which arm be which?"

"Not- Well… Almost…" Baby approached the table. She decided not to risk sitting on a chair, knowing her weight wouldn't hold. "…They- the others- they fought a lot after our failed escape attempt. Over and over we tried… And every plan fell apart before we could make it back outside. Everyone started to fight over who was controlling the body and I mostly kept quiet." She anxious twitched her fingers. "I let them argue amongst themselves and just listened. It was better that way."

"I'm not surprised. Once friends start sharin' close quarters, they start goin' stir-crazy," Foxy sympathized.

"And they did. Everyone wanted their own body and nobody wanted to share. In-… In fact…" Baby paused, as though unsure whether she wanted to continue or not. Foxy's ears perked and her face plates briefly shifted and clicked together, thoughtfully moving and tapping on the metals inside. "Some of them stopped speaking entirely. It's almost as though being together, being in the body with everyone else, caused them to be… Absorbed- I swear, there was nothing I could do to stop it. When Funtime Freddy stopped talking, I thought it was me, but I couldn't stop it."

There returned the franticness from before. "And it's so scary, being able to hear others and then waking up to find someone gone. You never know who is next or why they're gone… You just deal with it."

Foxy lowered his head in agreement. It wasn't exactly the same, but he still remembered waking to find that the others had moved on. It had been a blurred confusion at first as he tried to learn how to reuse his body, which had been destroyed and repaired too many times to remember. Yet they were gone. There was no comfort from his friends. There wasn't anyone to whisper comforts and assurances. All at once, he had been alone. It had only been by sheer luck that Marionette had also not moved on, or it would've just been him… And other questionable beings.

"It gets better," Foxy assured. "… Still, it's gotta be good bein' on yer own again. Even if the rest are still runnin' 'bout."

"…It is, almost," Baby semi-agreed. "…Sometimes I miss their voices. I feel so lonely like this… But it's better now." She perked in voice and posture. "Because there's you and Mari, and even the humans. It's not just me on my own anymore… So, I'm happy with this." As weird as this whole exchange was, Baby sounded as honest as could be, so Foxy was pleased in her answer. "I just enjoyed today so much. The singing, the cake; it was wonderful." A few seconds passed. "…Can we taste?"

"What?" Foxy asked in confusion. He didn't understand the sudden change in questioning. "We can't eat, Baby."

"I know that, but can we taste?" Baby wondered aloud. "It would be so nice to be able to taste cake. It looked like it would taste good and smelled so nice."

While she continued to vocally wonder, Foxy found himself getting lost in his own thoughts. He hadn't ever tried to taste anything; he had just assumed that he wouldn't get any sort of response, except get him dirty. Though it wasn't as though he was dealing with questionable employees if he did need to get scrubbed down. "Come on," he suddenly alerted, standing from the chair. "To the kitchen! We'll try the cake."

"…Foxy, I'm pretty certain that we don't work like that," Baby quietly remarked with her own confusion. "I was just talking in theory. I didn't mean that we should eat the cake."

"We ain't eating the whole cake. Just trying a bite to see if we can taste something," Foxy corrected her. He couldn't believe that over the years he had never even considered trying this. Leading the way into the kitchen, Baby followed hesitantly, he headed over to the fridge and dragged out the cake that Marionette had prepared earlier. It was simple; a yellow cake with chocolate icing and party balloons drawn in colored vanilla icing on the top. Perfect for the party scheduled tomorrow; though with the storm, Foxy had doubts that anyone would appear for it.

He removed the covering and dragged his fingers along the side, catching some of chocolate icing. Then he tested it against the bottom of his mouth. He didn't have a tongue or any possible sensors to taste with-,

"Well, blow me down…"

-but he could faintly taste the chocolate.

He didn't even question it. The overwhelming familiarity hit him. Years of eating sweets, of delighting in chocolate and cake, and whatever goodies he could swipe at the diner, all returned in full force. He couldn't eat, but he could taste, and he tightened his hold on the cake plate. This cake was here and was fully capable of giving him pleasure. As were the cupcakes in the fridge, and the ice cream, and the frozen pizzas. All of those pizzas he had been able to smell, but couldn't taste…

"Lass… You remember how to turn the oven on?"

* * *

Mike awoke to a very strange noise coming from outside the house. Upon first rousing, he couldn't even really recall what the noise reminded him of, and instead looked to the empty half of the bed beside him. From the way that the blankets were halfheartedly fixed, it was obvious that Marionette had been in bed earlier. He slowly dragged himself out of bed and shuffled out to search for coffee, noticing that the alarm clock was wrong- it was flashing as though the power went off at some time- but knowing that he would be needing to leave for work soon.

It was only in the hallway that he caught a glimpse of outside. He did a double take and moved in, pushing the curtain aside, and watching as a 'for sale sign' blew through the partially flooded, side yard. The sound of heavy wind was clear even through the pane of glass. It was clear that he wasn't awake enough to deal with this. Tiredly rubbing his face, he continued into the kitchen and almost directly walked into Marionette.

"Good morning," the Puppet chirped. "We're on tornado watch."

"What…?" Mike sent a glance over to the television where the weather channel was displayed. After seeing exactly how much red was surrounding southern Utah, it finally clicked. "…Do we have a crawlspace or something?"

"No crawlspace can save us now," Marionette playfully quipped. "Besides, I made you breakfast, and coffee." He seemed to not be too concerned with the storm and instead returned to the stove. "You left so quickly last night, I didn't know if you actually ate or not." The concern returned right on schedule as Mike fumbled with an already poured mug of coffee on the table.

"I went with Fritz and Natalie to get dinner, so I had enough," Mike pointed out. He felt the need to do it, as he didn't want to give the other the impression that they went out solely for drinks. "You don't have to worry about me, Mari. I don't want you thinking that I'm going to fall apart the first day you're gone in weeks," he finished and followed with downing the coffee. He could hear the wind pick up outside. "Did they say if it was going to rain?"

"Oh, it rained enough last night. Now it's just extreme winds and the possibility of a house or two flying by," Marionette quipped as he nudged something on a frying pan.

"… You know we have a realistic chance of that house being ours, right?" Mike dryly pointed out before turning his attention to the pan. "Is that bacon? When did we get bacon?"

"I found it while going through the freezer last night. It didn't have a date, but I don't suppose it could be too old, and it was constantly kept frozen." As confident as he sounded, Mike was already having flashbacks to the questionable pizza he had gotten from Freddy's. Unfortunately, just like then, he was tempted enough to simply accept the situation and eat the questionable bacon.

Considering last night, he didn't want to refuse Marionette's gift. It only seemed to really sink in now, watching the Puppet again tend to him, that he realized that maybe his decision from the night before was short-sighted. He had barely gotten any details on Baby before he had dismissed himself and he knew how well Marionette could cover. If something had happened, especially considering how oddly cling he had been last night, then Mike had walked out on it. The last thing he wanted was for him to come off as not caring, though it didn't help how lifeless he was still acting.

Marionette stared at the bacon and tried to guess if it was cooked or not. He was more going off what he could see than what he knew, as he knew virtually nothing about cooking meat. This, thankfully, seemed like the easiest thing he could've started with. His attention was immediately stolen when Mike came up beside him and put an arm around him.

"Thanks for this," Mike's voice was quieter and his motions were a bit more gentle than usual. "It's not every day that you get someone who would go through this much trouble. Especially with how I was acting last night."

"You were acting fine," Marionette responded. "Considering my history, there is no room for comparison." The man leaned in a bit more and the Puppet expected him to kiss his cheek. Instead, in the last moment, he reached forward to softly steer the younger to face him, then kissed him fully. For a moment, Marionette still believed that he could keep a hold on the cooking while this was happening. This though was dashed at whatever point his hands were off the pan and somewhere on Mike's back.

Of course, they had kissed plenty of times. Soft, quick, affectionate ones that lingered on Marionette's mind even when they didn't linger in practice. However, Mike must have really felt badly about the night before, because this lasted long enough that Marionette could hear his own insides humming with overheating. He didn't even realize that could happen; he never remembered getting worked up in such a way except, perhaps, during their first kiss. When Mike did pull back, Marionette was just lost enough to follow him, almost entirely intent on continuing the motion.

The food was going to burn. It already was sizzling a little too loudly, but Marionette could barely hear it under the warbling and humming that he could not control. He would've sworn it was programming, but there was no possible way that anyone would've programmed him with this. Marionette lightly tilted his head forward, trying to calm himself down, and Mike took the liberty to briefly kiss his forehead. Right where he had been- Goodness, it felt so strange to be touched with so much care. Even when Mike hadn't been holding back.

"I'm not really hungry yet and we're probably not opening today. Why don't we put breakfast aside and go back to bed for a while?" Mike suggested, looking a bit more comfortable and relaxed with his smile. "No worrying about Jeremy or Baby. Just you, me, and the tornado that will eventually kill us both."

The Puppet intended to give a vocally positive answer, so he was a little embarrassed when, instead of words, a blur of chiming and warbling filtered from him. At least it was some sort of answer, but the slight smirk of amusement that Mike gave was enough to make him feel fully flustered. Then Mike took the liberty of taking control of the stove, trying to get everything to a stopping point.

He should've just done this last night. He was feeling better already.


	58. Chapter 58

Jeremy had to get out of the house. If he didn't get out of the house sooner than later, he would lose what little bit of his sanity remained. For an entire day, the storm had raged and he had been trapped inside with the Minireenas and the Magician.

That day had been the closest thing to madness that he had ever suffered through.

He needed out, fast, and as soon as the next morning came he was off to the pizzeria. He didn't even know if they intended on opening or if they had power, but he needed a few moments away from the animatronics that had overtaken his home. It had seemed like such a good idea, but now the walls were closing in, and the pizzeria was his salvation.

As he unlocked the front door and stepped inside, Jeremy already noticed that something was a little odd. Some of the lights were already on and he shuffled inside. "Hello?" There was no immediate response. He started through the front and headed towards the kitchen, nudging the door open and sliding through. Now standing in the kitchen, he saw a stack of plates, pans, and trays laying out on the counter. "…What happened in here?" He slowly started in a few steps, before noticing a soft whirring noise.

Jeremy looked back and immediately came face to face with Baby, angled behind the kitchen door, waiting for him. "Gah!" he stumbled back.

"Hello," Baby quietly introduced, staring with an unflinching gaze. She seemed much too interested in him and being that she towered over him, it was rather unsettling. More unsettling than being stared down by Foxy or Marionette. Regardless of her seemingly sweet voice, something about Baby made Jeremy uncomfortable. Maybe it was the fact that when she moved he could hear her wires moving around inside. Maybe it was because he knew that she had once attempted to put her own wires into a human body.

"Uh, yeah, hello Baby," Jeremy forced a normal greeting. He just needed to act like everything was normal and get out of the kitchen as fast as possible. "Looks like a storm hit this place. Doesn't it?"

"It was a long night and a long day, and another long night," Baby vaguely explained. "It was Foxy. I wouldn't go see him if I were you; he's a mess."

With this warning, the human felt a pang of inward dread. He wasn't exactly sure of what Baby would classify as a 'mess', but he could only assume the worst. With the obvious horror present on his face, he dared to inquire further. "Where… Is he?"

"Behind his curtain," Baby answered. "But you don't want to see him like that."

Of course, Jeremy immediately slipped past Baby and hurried over to the curtain. He couldn't even imagine what Baby's warning could mean and eagerly slung open the curtain. "Foxy?!" The animatronic was sitting to himself against the wall and shielded himself as light poured past the curtain. His fabric was stained, especially around his mouth area, and Jeremy was taken aback by the overwhelming smell of chocolate.

"Don't look at me," Foxy muttered as he shifted to turn away. "Ol' Foxy's gone overboard."

"On chocolate?" Jeremy pushed open the curtain the rest of the way and saw the stains that had accumulated around the mouth. It looked like Foxy had attempted to wash it off, but soap and water wasn't going to clean off all the clumps of sugary icing. "What happened? You're- Captain…" Jeremy didn't know if this was exasperation or mere confusion, but the amusement was slowly creeping in. To be blunt, Foxy looked like a three-year-old who had gotten into his birthday cake early. "What, were you trying to  _eat_ the cake?"

"It all tastes so good," Foxy lamented. "Ankle deep in chocolate and so much pizza-!" Inwardly, Jeremy cringed when he mentioned the pizza, and was now starting to question how much foodstuff Foxy had efficiently smeared into himself. "Couldn't eat a bite, but could taste it all, lad!"

"That's great Foxy…" Jeremy quietly remarked. "Let's go see if we can get some of this off…" It didn't all look dry and as the animatronic stood, Jeremy suppressed a guffaw at even more smears that came to light. Now it was funny and he clenched his mouth shut, deciding not to risk offending Foxy. He stepped down from the stage and coaxed Foxy towards the bathroom, before going into the closet to get the supplies. Baby was now watching him again and, while it was unnerving, it wasn't nearly as bad considering that Foxy was nearby.

Next thing he knew, he was spraying fabric cleaner and scrubbing at red 'fur' with an old toothbrush. It seemed like this would be extremely awkward, but it surprisingly wasn't. While Foxy was embarrassed about what he did, he wasn't embarrassed about Jeremy touching or cleaning him. In a way, this made the whole event a lot less weird for Jeremy. Foxy wasn't self-conscious, so this somehow rubbed off on the human male as well, if only just a little bit. It also helped that Baby didn't follow them into the restroom.

Unfortunately, this calmness couldn't last. Just as Jeremy was thinking of how nice it was to take care of an animatronic who wasn't completely aggressive, Foxy asked a random question. "What do ya think of a human and an animatronic knocking boots?" It was so blunt that in the first moments Jeremy didn't know what to say. He knew exactly what Foxy was implying though; a human and an animatronic being in an obviously romantic relationship. It was a bizarre question to suddenly be presented with.

"I… I don't know. Why?" Jeremy's voice wavered as he tried to sound normal. However, he couldn't fight the rushing thoughts that questioned why Foxy himself would be wondering this. Was this about Baby, Marionette, or Foxy himself? Baby was too new to be fond of any humans and he doubted that Marionette would've revealed his hidden feelings to his older sibling. So, it would have to be Foxy, but even that was curious. Again, Foxy sounded concerned but not self-conscious, which called it being him into question.

"It ain't important. Just be honest, Lad. I need yer honesty now," Foxy assured. He looked their images in the mirror, watching as Jeremy moved to scrub at a small mark on his shoulder. "Humans and animatronics fooling around. Yes or no?"

"Uh…" Foxy certainly didn't know how to word what he was saying, that was for sure. With his determination, it became more convincing that it could be him. Yet Jeremy still flip flopped back and forth. "I, uh… Guess the situation- if both are, I guess, know what they're getting into? Shouldn't be anything wrong… Unless one of them is already in a relationship." Maybe it was about Natalie? She was the only female human that Foxy knew. "It's not- personally I don't think it's wrong… I can't talk for everyone. It's a special case."

"Aye. We ain't the normal moving machines," Foxy quietly agreed, somewhat lost in thought. "Normal animatronics don't feel a thing, but we do… Guess it ain't that wrong. 'Specially from our side; feels… Almost human." And he was back to sounding like he was talking about someone else. Bouncing back and forth, Jeremy slowed his scrubbing just a little.

"Foxy, is this about you or Mari?" Jeremy asked it before he really thought it through. Almost immediately, Foxy's head snapped to the side and there was that dead gaze upon him.

"Who told you? Mari?" Foxy almost demanded in a low, suspicious question. Unfortunately, Foxy had still not provided enough evidence for Jeremy to deduce and answer the question.

"…No. Nobody, I just sort noticed on my own," Jeremy answered. Technically, it wasn't a lie, but it was a stretch.

"Hmm…" Foxy considered this and then followed with a sigh. "Then it was me who di'n't notice… I be as blind as if I have two eyepatches." He then turned to the human, laying his hand on his shoulder. "If it be any consolation, Lad, between the two of you, I would've chose you." He was being honest and yet, without context, Jeremy could only stare as a creeping blush started to spread out across his face. "Yer bright, yer helpful… Yer not wearing yer glasses?" Foxy suddenly noticed it and tilted his head a bit. "Where's yer glasses?"

"Broke," Jeremy managed to get out. He subconsciously started to raise his hand to fix the absent glasses, but managed to stop himself.

"Eh, you look fine without them," Foxy remarked, patting Jeremy's shoulders. "But thanks. It don't seem like much, but I need to hear it. Just… Need to know that something like this won't get us shunned." With that, Foxy suddenly straightened and regained his more confident tone. "Now let's be shoving off to the kitchen. We best be gettin' everything ship-shape before the kids start pourin' in!" the captain announced in a much more jovial tone. He stepped out of the bathroom while Jeremy followed.

"I'm… We're not done, you know. There's still chocolate on your- everywhere," Jeremy forced out. He had no idea what he was supposed to take from their conversation, but something about it all left him feeling a little too strange. It was just not the conversation that he was prepared to give. "Thank goodness Baby didn't eat anything. At least we know how to clean you."

"Baby ate three sticks o' butter and a half a dozen eggs. Ya just got lucky that you couldn't see it on 'er," Foxy corrected in amusement. He could only chuckle as he heard Jeremy's choking response.

Such a good first mate, taking care of his captain; Foxy considered absentmindedly as he prepared himself to be back on stage again. It was a shame that Marionette hadn't been interested in him, but maybe it was for the best. Maybe Foxy would put him together with Baby… Maybe Foxy would just keep him to himself.

* * *

The day off had gotten Mike back into gear. It was almost surprising what a single day off could do to lift one's spirits, but it had worked like a charm. The phone stayed off, the world was shut out, and it was just the two of them. Mike needed it much more than he realized. Even now, putting on his uniform, he felt completely comfortable in going back to work. If anything, he was looking forward to it. While finishing up with the closet, his eyes landed on one of his boxes that was left unemptied.

He leaned over and nudged the box open, glancing through the stuff before his eyes landed on something. His old Walkman was sitting abandoned in the box. While Mike hadn't lost any interest in music, he had lost interest in the Walkman quite some time ago. With an amused smile, he fished it and a connected pair of headphones out of the cardboard box, and carried it out into the living room. Just because he couldn't use them didn't mean that they couldn't be used.

Marionette was scribbling something down on his drawing pad. It looked like the beginnings to some sort of plush toy design, but Mike didn't get much of a look before he leaned over the back of the couch. He handed over the Walkman, "Hold this." The Puppet took the machine and blankly stared at it in his hand, before flinching as something started to slide over his head. "Relax. I don't need you popping before work," Mike playfully remarked as he slid the headphones into place. "Now I need that back for a second."

As the Walkman was handed back, Mike stopped his hand and started to point out the various buttons. "This turns it on. This pops the top so you can change cassettes. This dial controls the volume. The batteries might be dead in it and the music's probably awful, but let's see if we can get it on anyway." Thankfully, sitting in the box hadn't drained what was left of the batteries, so the Walkman was very capable of coming on. He couldn't hear the music himself, but the moment that Marionette started to chime he knew it was on.

Over the last day, something had finally dawned on Mike. As much as the Puppet spoke and sung, it was these chimes and chirps that came most naturally to him. He could fake his voice's tone and emotion, but the chimes and static were always consistent. Maybe this was why he could mimic voices so well.

This thought on voices originally went back to his phone. With a weary sigh, he went to turn it on. He knew that his mother had probably called at least a dozen times in the span of the last day. Not that it was going to stop. By opening the doors of communication, Mike had unfortunately left himself open to his mother's efforts to rekindle their relationship, whether Mike was confident in it or not. After all, he didn't really trust anyone in his family, except maybe his grandparents; though even they had somehow told their aunt about where he worked.

And most importantly, Mike didn't want to get invested in his mother if she was just going to have a later issue and end all communication. If he knew about what he had done in the last year alone, she would probably become extremely wary of him. At least she would call less and then Mike wouldn't be the one who had to worry about all these possibilities. Though it wasn't as though he could just tell his mother that he worked at a haunted pizzeria or that he was courting a sock monkey.

Then it suddenly went full circle as Mike looked over towards Marionette. He headed over and sat down in the armchair, looking towards the animatronic. He now rested a hand on the headphones while the other had returned to eagerly sketching. He began to softly chime in sync with the music that Mike couldn't hear. It was all so innocent, but Marionette had proved that he didn't have to be. After all, he had faked a voice to lie to Fritz, but he wouldn't have to go that far to challenge Mike's mother's determination.

He let the plan form for a few minutes and saw no immediate drawbacks. If his mother really wanted such a close relationship, then she would be willing to accept his choices. It was the perfect challenge and, either way, he would come out in a better position. He bided his time as he prepared to leave and didn't confront the Puppet about the idea until they were in the car. Mike gave a few nudges to the blanket in the backseat, "Can you do me a favor?" He repeated the question again once the Puppet had slipped off the headphones.

"Certainly," Marionette responded. He didn't expect the human to hand him his cellphone.

"Mom's going to probably call in the next couple of hours. I just need you to answer the phone and say that we're dating," Mike quickly explained. Then he turned forward, as though it was nothing, and started to car.

"…I'm sorry?" Marionette seemed dumbstruck. "You want me to answer the phone for you and… I don't understand."

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," Mike assured, a slight smirk on his lips. "We'll see firsthand how loyal Mom's willing to be."

"I…" The Puppet didn't exactly know what to say to answer this. "Mike, maybe this is something you should tell your mother yourself." As thrilled as he was that Mike was willing to label their relationship in such a positive light, he wasn't sure how well this plan would work. "She may find it strange that I have your phone and am answering for you. Or worse- This is something you should tell her outright… Or just be honest and tell her she's calling too much."

"I'm not having her cry on me again. You're a stranger, so she's not going to cry on the phone with you. I know it's a lot to ask, but I don't want to get any closer without knowing if she's going to have an issue," Mike revealed, his confidence lessening just a bit. After all, getting her to call less was only a small issue. There was a bigger deal involving trust that needed to be handled. "Please?"

"…Alright, I will," Marionette agreed. He absentmindedly trailed his fingers over the buttons of the phone. "I'll tell her we'll together, she'll know I'm male, and we'll wait on me being a puppet."

"Hopefully until I have something incriminating on her," Mike muttered absentmindedly. After that, Marionette returned to the Walkman and they finished the drive to the Pizzeria.

Jeremy was already there, but Fritz and Natalie hadn't arrived yet. Set up was virtually easy, though the cakes in the fridge had mysteriously vanished and had to be baked again. There was more than enough time to do this and the final fixing of the kitchen. Mike had a feeling that something trashed the kitchen, but Jeremy was remarkably silent on what he knew. Then Natalie appeared at the pizzeria with less than devastating news.

"Fritz won't be joining us," Natalie revealed to her coworkers. "His voice was completely gone, he kept coughing; I just told him not to come in." She didn't notice the look that Mike and Jeremy sent to each other.

"I'll call him later to send my regards," Jeremy suggested with a small smile.

"So, we should expect you to come down with a mysterious illness in the next week?" Mike playfully quipped.

"Probably, yeah. Just in case, I ate a couple of oranges for breakfast. Maybe it'll help," Natalie responded, fully unfazed by Mike's comment. He raised a brow and she managed to catch the gesture. "What? You both know that Fritz and I are together. In fact, Mike, you were the one suggesting that we started living together." An amused smile passed her face. "If anyone should feel awkward, it should be you two, right? You're both single." She was more than willing to turn the tables.

"I literally just got out of a relationship," Mike pointed out. "As for Jeremy, he's owned by his animatronics." He sort of expected one of them to butt-in with a Fritz-esque remark, but they didn't. Instead, Jeremy decided to be honest.

"That's not too far from the truth… Things at the house have been really tense and the Minireenas are still just as angry as ever. Nothing I do helps," Jeremy vented towards the two. He decided to entirely leave out him continued confusion from earlier with Foxy. From afar, it was plainly obvious that he was having some sort of issue with nearly every animatronic, save Marionette. Unless Foxy's conversation early involved him, which Jeremy truly couldn't tell of or not. It was then that a new voice broke in.

"I know plenty about them," Baby volunteered from a few feet away, situation, again, behind Jeremy. He wondered how long she had been there, but shrugged it off as the clown decided to inject herself into the conversation without invitation. "They were Ballora's and I was very close to Ballora for a very long time."

"Really? I could use all the help I could get, if you have any ideas." Jeremy jumped at the idea regardless of how uncomfortable he felt with the large female. After all, he didn't have to go home with Baby, but he couldn't outrun the Minireenas. As he turned his attention on her, Mike listened briefly before going to open the business, and Natalie soon followed suite.

"Even though she was a dancer, Ballora spent most of her time lost in song. I can only suppose that the Minireenas would be comforted if they could hear her song again. Maybe if you sung it, they would become attached to you," Baby suggested quietly. She sounded rather confident in the idea. "I remember the song. She was-… Oh…" Suddenly, Baby cut off, and Jeremy's desperation kicked in further.

"What's the song?" Jeremy pried further. "Please, Baby, I need this. They're going to smother me in my sleep."

"I… I can't…" Her blue eyes were fixated on the other side of the dining room. "Children." Looking back, Jeremy watched as a man and a couple of children walked into the restaurant. Natalie tended to them immediately, but it was obvious that Baby wouldn't be able to help with them here.

"They don't see you yet. They're probably not even coming over here- Look, Foxy's already on stage," Jeremy pointed out as Foxy stepped out past the curtain. "Just the first couple of lines?"

"I can't…" Baby's eyes started to dart around as her plates started to shift uncomfortably. "I can't do this- Too tight. This- can't move- too tight." Her plates scraped together as she started to become frantic. It was now that Jeremy realized that they had more problems than just her not being able to speak.

"D-Do you want to step into the kitchen? They won't follow you in there," Jeremy suggested. For a moment, it seemed like Baby considered this option, but this suddenly came to a striking halt when her head dropped. Her arms went limp, she faced the ground, and everything went entirely still. There was a settling noise inside of her large frame, but she went entirely unresponsive. "Baby?" Now he was the one panicking. The one day an animatronic broke down and Fritz couldn't be in. "Oh no… Baby, can you- can you hear me?"

"I can't move," Baby quietly whispered. Her voice then became much firmer, "I  _can't_ move."

"Okay, then just… Uh… Just stand here? I can throw a sheet over you and just- you don't have to move."

"Please do," Baby insisted. Jeremy hurried off to get one of the spare table clothes and returned fast enough to cover her. Thankfully, the only two children had yet to notice her, as Foxy was keeping them distracted rather well. Once she was covered and secure, she whispered out to him again. "Come close." He was hesitant. "I can't speak louder. You must come closer," Baby assured. Finally, the man moved in a little closer, with his ear inches away from Baby's unmoving mouth. He stayed there as she whispered every lyric.

The day continued onwards without Baby. The postponed birthday party finally took place, children were in and out of the prize corner, tokens circulated through the arcade, and the buzz of a successful day kept morale rather high. Marionette was having a rather good day himself. When he wasn't tending to children, he was back to looking at the plushies and contemplating what designs he wanted to suggest to the others.

Then the Toreador March started to ring from his box. Out of reflex, his eyes darted to the music player, but then he remembered the cell phone. He dropped into his box and quickly teleported into the office. He knew that the chance of it being Mike's mother was extremely high and braced himself. He still wasn't sure of how morally correct this would be, but he knew that he wouldn't be lying. Unless he had to bluntly say that he was human and, even then, it wasn't the worst lie.

No, instead he wondered if rocking the boat was appropriate now. Mike and his mother only just started talking… But he would rather him do this and get the reaction than Mike telling his mother and risking a bad reaction. Nobody, not even Mike, wanted to hear their parent's disapproval. Marionette knew this well enough.

Then he answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hello. Is Michael there?" It was definitely her. She sounded like a woman in her forties, give or take a few years, and sounded rather friendly. He was second guessing this entire plan even more.

"I'm sorry, he's working right now," Marionette excused. "He just left his phone with me for the moment… Is this his mother?" He couldn't help but let an eager curiosity filter through. "He was mentioning that he needed to call you back. The last few days have been rough with the weather and all." A proper excuse was needed, considering that Mike had kept his phone off for nearly two days.

"Yes, I saw on the news! We don't usually get tornados this early in the year. I wanted to make sure that he was alright," she explained. "I'm Isabelle Schmidt."

"It's very nice to finally meet you, even if it's just over the phone," Marionette chirped as he began to hover across the small office in a pacing fashion. "Marion Afton. Mike and I… Are very close." First attempt and he couldn't get it out. Then again, it could've been because 'Afton' slipped out before he could even control it. Almost immediately he wished that he would've said another as he knew he was now stuck with it; an understatement.

"Oh? I don't think he mentioned you, but Mike hasn't mentioned too many of his friends," Isabelle explained with a slight tinge of sadness on her voice. "How is he?"

"Stubborn, but that's nothing new," Marionette reflexively dipped into playfulness. There was instant relief as she gave a short laugh in response. "Mike's never been really open with his feelings."

"No, no, but I've been out of the loop as well. I have nobody to blame but myself," she insisted. Though suddenly her tone shifted to surprise, "Wait, you said your name was Marion?"

"Yes…" Marionette's voice was starting to catch. "Did Mike mention me?" Mike probably should've told him that beforehand. Then again, it was a clever decoy; Isabelle would've assumed that someone named 'Marion' was female. Some girl in her twenties who looked like Louise and spent her time doing wholesome activities.

"He did, but I-." Then Isabelle went silent and he assumed that it finally sunk in. The silence was awkward, but at least she completely bought that he was a human. That would've been a much stranger conversation. After a few moments, Isabelle managed to speak again.

"You and Michael are… He said that he was in a relationship with a girl named Marion," Isabelle pieced together. "Or, no- I just assumed…"

"He isn't really open with anything," Marionette somewhat defended. It wasn't as though there was much else to say than that. "I'm sorry he didn't tell you."

"No! Don't be sorry. I wasn't paying enough attention," the woman assured. "And I was so worried about his health that I wasn't asking questions. I missed out on so much of his life… I cheated myself out of the chance to see him finish growing up. I barely know him now." There came the lamentation, the sadness, but not anger. At least it wasn't anger. Marionette didn't know how to handle anger.

"Maybe he was afraid to say anything because he was afraid you'd react badly?" Marionette suggested. Indeed, he still felt a little anxious, worrying that she would suddenly go into a frenzy. "Sometimes… Mike tries to avoid conflict. Even when it means making questionable decisions."

"I hope not. I hope Michael knows that I would agree to any of his choices. It's his life; I'm just content being a part of it," Isabelle assured. She still seemed surprised, but her fear of losing Mike was evident. From what he was hearing, it seemed like Mike's idea to lose his mother was simply not going to work. "It was very nice speaking to you. Would you please tell Michael I called?"

"As soon as I can," Marionette assured. Then he lingered on the phone, pausing, and only then made a bold suggestion. "We should be home about seven or eight o'clock if you would like to call back."

"I will. Thank you so much," Isabelle spoke with a slightly happier tone. "It really was nice speaking with you, Marion. I hope we get to meet very soon."

"I do as well. Have a nice day," The moment that Marionette ended the call, he realized that he had put himself in a corner. He had just willingly agreed to eventually meet Mike's mother when he clearly couldn't. For some time, he could only stare at the wall and try to pretend that he didn't just make an extremely stupid mistake. He just stood there and reevaluated what he had said and wondered how much of it she had bought.

It was the office phone ringing that eventually pulled him out of his trance. He knew he had to return to his box, that children were waiting, and he listened to the sound of approaching footsteps. Before the door could fully open he had already identified the familiar feeling; it was Mike. It didn't look like he was expecting Marionette though, from the confusion on his face. The Puppet pointed out the cell phone and set it down on the desk; Isabelle wouldn't be calling for a while, so he didn't need to take it with him.

Mike answered the office phone and Marionette teleported out, deciding that he didn't have enough time or energy to recite the call. As expected, a line of children were already waiting for him, so it was easy to get lost in his work. For now, he wouldn't worry about Mike's mother or Mike's relationship with her. He had more important things to worry about.

Marion Afton could worry about family drama later; Marionette had a task to do.


	59. Chapter 59

It had almost seemed to be a successful day, but there was certainly one who couldn't help but feel ashamed.

"Hiding from children. I was created to entertain children, how could I freeze up?" Baby vented to the others. Specifically, Foxy and Marionette, but she was unbothered by speaking towards the humans as well. "I couldn't even do a thing! I became completely worthless!"

"It was yer first day, Lass," Foxy told her as he fidgeted around the arcade. "All those kids pourin' in at once was little intense. Don't beat yerself up 'bout it."

"But I must!" Baby insisted with clear frustration in her voice. "How could this have happened? Am I… Am I broken?"

"Not at all," Marionette protested, sitting at the end of the table on one of the chairs. "I agree with Foxy. It was a lot to confront on your first day. Perhaps we should've started with a smaller group or a quieter day." He sympathized with his sister's plight and hoped she would be calmed. It didn't seem to work very much, but Baby's emotions were hard to read. Even to someone as in tune with covering as Marionette was.

It was then that Mike approached the group, having just cleaned off one of the tables. Oddly enough, he addressed the animatronics directly instead of waiting for Natalie and Jeremy to finish their work nearby. This was the first cue that something was up.

"We got an important call earlier," Mike forewarned. From the way he was turned, it was clear that he was specifically aiming the comment towards Foxy and the Puppet.

Marionette immediately perked, unintentionally guessing that Mike was speaking to Foxy. "Indeed we did!" He looked to the others with delight, clasping his hands together. "I spoke to Mike's mother! She sounded like such a sweet woman! A bit surprised to hear me, but regardless-."

Mike felt fire hit his face and moved in quickly. The less that was said about his mother, the better; less anyone in the group start suggesting that they invite her into the pizzeria. As it was now, it was the only place that she didn't seem willing to look for him at. "Not that, something else," he assured as he planted his hands on the Puppet's shoulders. A small gesture to signal him to quiet down. "We got an actual gig."

"A gig? A birthday," Foxy clarified, seemingly not taking to Mike's wording. "We get plenty 'o birthdays. Whozit this time?"

"It's not a birthday this time. You've been  _hired out_ ," Mike corrected with a challenging smirk. "They're having one of those God-awful fair-carnival things up around Provo and they're looking for entertainment. It's not exactly a venue that would be worth much, but they're going to pay well and it would get us more expositor. I gave him the go ahead to reserve the spot, but I just wanted to run this by you all before we get stuck driving up there."

Both animatronics seemed a little surprised. Foxy's ears raised and his patch raised while Marionette tensed and turned. Mike rubbed at his fabric, hoping to ease him.

"Outside gig…" Foxy remarked, deep in thought. "…I'd be outside in daylight. Outside around humans… Hmm…" Almost immediately, he was considering it, but someone else was starkly in contrast.

"I couldn't," Baby protested. "I wouldn't have to, right? I just  _couldn't_. Too many people- I couldn't imagine counting so many!" There was a sort of desire in her tone, but she seemed to have learned her lesson from earlier. She just wasn't ready to face the children. Marionette had yet to voice his opinion.

"Geez, this seems like it would be a pretty big deal," Natalie volunteered in. "That's like a three-hour drive. Are you sure we're ready for that?"

"Trust me, I've gone through all the downsides, but we can't pass up the publicity," Mike pointed out. "We've obviously got competition and if we want to get enough revenue to consider expanding the building, then we'll have to get more attention. Hopefully without having to kill anybody." That was meant to be a joke. Baby's head snapped to look at him as though she took his words literally.

"There are some cons you haven't considered." It was strange to hear Marionette's voice hold so much authority. As though he was a boss considering the idea of an employee. He sounded a bit skeptical as he began to recite. "Such as the lack of a track. Won't they find it odd that I can just hover on my own?"

"We don't," Mike challenged playfully. After a moment to let the joke sink, he tapped his fingers reassuringly. "We'll figure something out. Maybe we can make a stand or something, or just a pole to hold your cross. We'll figure something out in the next week." He then got a slight smirk, "Maybe get some sap whose willing to puppeteer you." And he knew he won him over. He heard the smothered chime and knew that he had gotten him right where he wanted him. He began to feel over his right shoulder, pressing and searching for any segment of string.

Soon the Puppet gave in just enough for Mike to start winding a string around his finger. Just that little bit of a playful touch, too subtle to be seen by the others.

"If Foxy is willing then I am," Marionette agreed. "And let's be reasonable. The only one who would be able to handle a performance of my kind would be you. You would have to be my puppeteer."

"I think I can manage that," Mike quipped as he continued to fiddle with the string. For a moment, he was losing focus of the conversation as Foxy, Natalie, and Jeremy discussed the pros and cons. Occasionally, Marionette broke in with an observation, but they were both mostly silent. He wondered if anyone would notice if he leaned down a little closer to the Puppet, or played with his 'toy' a little more. Though on second thought, he decided that Baby would probably see it and guess the worst. If Baby could guess the worst.

"I guess it's not the craziest thing we've done," Natalie admitted with a small smile. She reached back to fix her ponytail. "It's going to be work, but it could be worth it." Jeremy looked a lot more skeptical. He let out a mutter of 'I'm not sure' before Foxy had his hook on his shoulder.

"Don't overthink it, Lad! It be the same 'ol thing we be doin' here. We can do it," Foxy insisted to the male. Though he may have been trying to convince himself as well. It would be a tremendous risk, but it could be his last time outside in quite some time. It seemed worth the moderate amount of risk. Jeremy gave what was almost a defeated nod of agreement.

"Then it's settled," Mike spoke and Foxy looked to him. His gaze landed back on the grip that the security guard had on his younger sibling. For a brief moment a flash of anger started to form. He fought the urge to verbally scold Mike on his hands' position, knowing good and well that nobody else could know what he did. He suppressed the emotions and ignored Jeremy's confused look when he noticed the fox's arm tensing. "We'll wrap up the week like it's going and figure out how to get everything up there."

Marionette turned back towards him, waiting until Foxy's constantly probing gaze was distracted, and reached up to grasp Mike's wrist. "I hope you know what you're getting into," the Puppet warned with amusement in his tone. The security guard was only amused by the statement.

"I have zero confidence in my decision, but no publicity is bad publicity. Not when we live in a town as small as this one." Mike paused after this comment. "…And no, the irony isn't lost on me."

This got a chime out of the Puppet and he tugged at the human's wrist. "Would you do me a favor?" Considering that he had just agreed to a performance without either of the animatronics' previous consent, he supposed that he owed that much, and leaned down a bit more. Marionette slide up out of the chair and leaned in to whisper, his hand moving up to cup Mike's other cheek and pulling him in. Mike glanced over at the others, realizing how odd this would look if anyone saw them. It was only by sheer luck that nobody was looking over.

"When we get home…" Marionette began, smiling just as sure as ever as he murmured lower. Either this was of dire importance or-.

"Call your mother."

Of course.

* * *

It was worth a shot. Even if the lyrics were questionable and Jeremy couldn't exactly sing- or didn't feel comfortable enough to sing- it was worth a try. By time he had gotten home, the house was eerily quiet. He glanced around before walking into the center of the living room and giving a timid call. "Daisy?"

Almost immediately, Daisy came bounding in, as happy as she usually was to see him. He knelt down and scooped her into his arms before intending to move to the couch. This short trek was interrupted when he noticed two more Minireenas entering the living room. While they kept their distance, Rose and Forget-Me-Not were clearly more interested than they usually were. He didn't know if it was because they were wearing some of Daisy's dresses or not, but something seemed different.

It was as though they were slightly, just slightly, starting to become more open to the idea of living here. It wasn't much, but it relieved him to no end. They still kept their distance as he sat down with Daisy on the couch.

"Baby taught me a song today," he explained to the Minireena. She didn't really react. "I think you'll like it, so I'm just… I'm going to sing to you." He didn't understand why he felt so nervous; they wouldn't judge his singing prowess. Yet he had always been a little self-conscience of his voice. Then again, Jeremy was self-conscious about a lot of aspects of who he was. Still, he was willing to do anything to get his house back.

" _Why do you hide inside your walls?~"_ Jeremy began. Daisy flinched to attention, as did the other Minireenas. " _When there is music in my halls.~"_ Rose and Forget-Me-Not looked to each other slowly. Jeremy couldn't tell if it was working, but it did get some sort of reaction.  _"It's so good to sing all day. To dance, to spin, to-_ Wait!" Midway through the verse, Daisy suddenly leapt from his lap and began a mad dash for the hallway. Looking over, Jeremy just caught the glimpse of Forget-Me-Not sprinting out of the room. Rose was already gone.

"Whoa, wait! Come back!" Jeremy called after them. Then he could only stare in shock at where they once had been. "I… I don't understand. I thought that was the song…"

"That was the song."

Jeremy choked and flinched back at the voice. Then he looked over the back of the couch and stared down at the short animatronic behind the couch. "W-What?"

"You're right, that was the song," the Magician voiced to the human. This was the first time he had ever willingly spoke to him. "But you've got it all wrong. Whatever you're doing."

"I-I thought- Baby taught me the song to sing to the Minireenas, to make them more comfortable," Jeremy awkwardly explained. He gave a sad sigh. "I just thought it would help."

"Not that song. Not anything around Ballora," the Magician forewarned. "Your friend doesn't think decisions through. These dolls may of followed Ballora, but they were afraid of what she became. Started out as an animatronic, turned into a monster, lost herself in the process." He suddenly broke into stiff laughter. "Ha ha ha! You could say that she fell apart! Ha ha ha!" It was as though the conversation abruptly dipped into uncomfortable territory. Or, at least, Jeremy suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Don't listen to Baby," the Magician forewarned. "Baby doesn't know what he's saying. Baby doesn't know what makes the Minireenas tick."

"And- And you do?" Jeremy inquired. It sounded as though he had made a terrible mistake. He didn't want to run the Minireenas off for good, especially not Daisy.

"Go find them," the Magician insisted. "They understand what you say when you speak." With that, Jeremy was off the couch and towards the bedroom. "And good luck! Ha ha ha!" he rattled out.

From the way his door was ajar, Jeremy suspected that at least one of the Minireenas had slipped into his bedroom. Most likely it was Daisy. He stepped into the bedroom and shut the door behind him. "Daisy?" He didn't dare to move in further until he knew he wouldn't startle her. "I'm sorry, Daisy. I thought that you'd like the song. I didn't even think…" He quieted down as the blankets were pushed upwards and a small figure crawled out from under the bed. "Oh Daisy…"

The little doll approached almost cautiously, but came to him none the less. Jeremy sat down on the floor with his back against the bedroom door, and watched as Daisy climbed into his arms. "I thought you missed Ballora," Jeremy said as he hugged her tighter against his chest. "I never thought I would scare you by singing her song." Daisy gave a tiny giggling noise, though it was slower and quieter than usual. She continued to curl into his arms and eagerly accepted his apology. To Jeremy's relief, he had managed to dodge a bullet.

It was by sheer luck that a second Minireena appeared out of its hiding spot beneath his dresser. It squeezed itself out and pattered over, coming to a stop in front of him and simply standing there watching. He recognized it as Forget-Me-Not and offered a hand out to her. The Minireena responded by taking a step back; it only wanted to observe. So, he let her.

Perhaps two or three minutes later, the final Minireena appeared from under the bed. This one was definitely Rose and its behavior showed this. It kept more crouched into itself as it crossed over, but then, instead of keeping its distance, it closed the final bit of space and joined Daisy in Jeremy's grasp. He was stunned; Rose had never gotten this close before. Forget-Me-Not hadn't really either, but she was keeping obvious distance. Somehow, they decided to get close even after hearing a song that left them so distraught.

This time, Jeremy decided to stay quiet. It worked like a charm.

* * *

The three-hour drive had been harder than Mike would've ever expected it to be. If he would've known a week ago that it would be so hot in the van, or that he would be wearing a long sleeve shirt the entire drive, he wouldn't have been so willing to agree to the job. It had been miserable.

To save gas, it was decided that they would just take the van, and because Fritz wasn't entirely well and Jeremy needed to tend to home matters, it was decided that Natalie would accompany Mike. Foxy and Marionette were in the back; nobody had any belief that Baby would join and it was probably better she didn't, considering the lack of space.

The week between the call and now was mostly uneventful. Baby had still yet to make her debut, the workdays had all been relatively similar, and his mother only called slightly less. For that gift there was a price, as not only did his mother now constantly ask him about Marionette, but she frequently requested to talk to Marionette, which the Puppet agreed to. Mike could see this building to be a problem in the distant future, but decided that it wasn't anything too serious for now. Not like the baking heat that somehow overtook the air conditioner.

By time they made it to the fair, it was about six o'clock and the temperature had only dropped slightly. There was more than enough time to spare with getting things set up and Natalie went to seek out the man Mike had spoken to on the phone- a mostly uninteresting man named Riley Sanders. She then helped Foxy out of the back of the van while Mike climbed into the back to get Marionette's cross. They had settled on attaching the cross to a pole and just pretending that he was being carried; with the Puppet's ability to hover it wasn't as though he would weigh anything.

"Wait," Marionette commanded before Mike could even begin to approach the deceptive mechanism. He immediately went for the face paints they brought. "Let me paint you before you leave."

"I can promise you that anything you put on my face is going to melt off," Mike warned as he rolled up his sleeves. The only striped shirt he was able to find that looked similar enough to the Puppet's stripes was clearly out-of-season wear. It felt a thread too thick and, again, the long sleeves were a nuisance. Unfortunately, this is what he agreed to when he let himself get roped in as Marionette's puppeteer. The Puppet still seemed determined and Mike wiped off his face. "Let's just make this quick."

"Don't worry, I know exactly what I'm doing," Marionette assured as he opened the set of face paint. It wouldn't be the exact same paint he was used to, but it was a close enough difference. He pressed the small sponge into the white, greasy paste and began to apply. "You're going to look perfect," he assured, "and I would have nothing less for my  _puppeteer_." He wouldn't lie; as disturbing as it would seem to willingly label someone in a place of control, Marionette got a giddy feeling every time that he titled his human into such a role.

"Just wondering, since we've never gone into it and you've been pretty vague," Mike began as he tried to mostly stay still, "were you ever assigned a puppeteer?"

"Oh please, nobody would work with me," Marionette pointed out with a chiming chuckle. "Nobody was given the role, but they couldn't even get anyone to watch the Prize Corner during the daytime. Finding a willing human to tend to me would've been impossible!"

"Someone had to do maintenance or repaint you once or twice," Mike pointed out. His curiosity bypassed how much he didn't want certain answers. He didn't really want to know about previous humans who poked around the animatronics; they already had enough baggage from Freddy's. He noticed Marionette going for the red. "I don't want any on my mouth. From the way this stuff smells, it'll probably rot my teeth if it gets too close."

"It's just for your cheeks then," Marionette patiently assured as he readied the brush. "But no. I required little maintenance and, while I barely remember being painted once or twice, I picked up the task of painting myself as soon as I could. To avoid the discomfort of having strange adults getting so close to me."

"I'm not strange enough to be barred?" Mike quipped a brow with a playful smile.

"You're right in the grey area," Marionette answered. "Right where I like it." The conversation briefly stopped as he continued to paint the red, then followed with the purple markings. Then he spoke again, "It's been so long since I've been to something like this. A carnival, an amusement park; I'll be honest, I would have probably agreed to anything to come, even against my better judgement." He removed the brush and set it aside. "But the thrill- I'm going to lose myself in it again, and I love it."

"And that's why you have a puppeteer. So you don't get too lost," Mike remarked. He then leaned into the front to check his reflection. He was surprised at how well it turned out. "You did great. I think this is the closest I'm getting to looking like you." Marionette looked pleased with his work and kept his gaze on the other as he opened the back of the van and got out. Foxy was standing nearby, staring blankly ahead, pretending to be a normal animatronic in a sort of resting mode. It was believable enough.

Mike dragged out the pole and quickly set the frame up. Then he reached for the cross, "Are you ready?" The Puppet gave an agreeing nod, now reluctant to speak with the door open, and slipped out of the van. As soon as his strings were weaved into the cross, Mike shut the van doors and brought both puppet and pole over to the others. He didn't have confidence in the pole staying upright with any weight, even with an adequate base, so he would have to keep his hands on it. It didn't help that the small wheels on the base were struggling over the grass beneath them.

"The sooner the better, really," Natalie awkwardly insisted before noticing the other human. "Oh, hey, here's Mike. This is who you talked to on the phone. Mike, we were just talking about when we should go on." She then sent him a much more obvious look. "Before Chipper goes on."

" _Chipper's_ is here?" He could already foresee what disaster that would be. Chipper's wasn't exactly competition, but he could see any audience losing all faith after two minute of watching broken animatronics with parts falling off. They couldn't risk that sort of disappointment… Besides, he didn't want to stick around for the show. "We've already got everything together. We can go on now."

"Huh. You're sure?... Well, okay," the man, clearly Riley from the familiar sound of his voice, agreed. "We're not starting the live entertainment for another twenty minutes, but if you want to get your bots on the stage then you're welcome to. Doesn't look like you brought as much as Chipper's."

"Course not. Chipper's…" Mike bit back his remark as soon as he remembered exactly how indebt they were to the fellow establishment. "-got way more characters than we do. These two can handle it."

"Do you usually dress like that, or is this a special occasion?" Riley asked in a surprisingly straight tone considering that Mike assumed it was a joke. Or he hoped it was a joke.

"I'm contractually obligated to match my mime," Mike flatly quipped back. "If I don't, it's fifty lashes on the ass."

"For goodness sake!" Natalie blurted out as her hand landed squarely on her own face. "Keep those kind of jokes for people who know to ignore you." That being said, he saw the amused smile that she was trying to cover. Though both Marionette and Foxy were now obviously staring. Riley didn't notice; he laughed, he finished up, and he left to attend to other matters. It was about what they had expected for his guidance. Though with him gone, Natalie changed the conversation, "Why would Chipper's be here?"

"Same reason we are. Glenn made it clear that Chipper's was wobbling on its last legs, so it's looking for a bit of popularity," Mike pointed out. "…And if we don't go on before them then we'll get some obvious comparisons."

"Then we should get this over with… Before someone literally cracks the whip," she added in, sending him a look. Mike returned with a smirk of amusement, but decided pointedly to say nothing. "Come on, Foxy. We'll get you where you need to go." She took his arm and Foxy shuffled stiffly beside her. Both humans had to admit that Foxy played his roll well and was clearly on his guard. Marionette was also completely still, watching everything with a silent smile. It was fortunate that they faked lifelessness so well.

It wasn't until they moved onto the stage- out from the sanctuary of the behind the stalls staff only area- that the sheer amount of fairgoers could truly be seen. This was the first show of the evening and still the folded chairs laid out before the stage were packed with waiting guests. Most of them looked exhausted; Mike could imagine them wandering the fairground in these heat for hours and only stopping for the show to get a rest. There were plenty of children at least. Children were easier to please.

For a split second, Mike felt his heart begin to pound. His vision briefly tunneled, but it was only for a second as he quickly put his back to the crowd and instead turned his full attention on Marionette. The Puppet was still just as still as before, but Mike felt a little more comfortable with his attention aimed on him.

"Yar! Welcome to the show, ladies and landlubbers!"

And there was Foxy, who knew very well that he wasn't supposed to be 'on' and yet was beginning the performance anyway. Mike's head snapped over to look at the animatronic, who was now moving in stiff, realistically animatronic movements. "Foxy," he whispered over.

"We be glad to dock in yer port after such a mighty voyage across the lands," Foxy explained as he waved a hook at the audience.

" _Foxy,"_ Mike whispered sharper. "We aren't supposed to be on yet."

"See a lot of strappin' young kids!" He raised his hand above his eyes as though peering out. "Ye could be a fine crew!" The children were looking excited and Mike looked back off the stage at Natalie who gave a shrug of confusion. Neither knew if Riley would fly in and have a fit about them starting early or not. "…Tis a shame that ol' Foxy not be puttin' on a show tonight. It ain't my night." Some of the children gave confused noises and Foxy nodded. "It be so, kids. It ain't my night…"

For a split second, Mike actually realized that he was leading into something, but this was interrupted by Foxy breaking into song.

" _Don't want a struggle, don't want a fight, don't want a scene, but it ain't my night,~"_ Foxy began with a contrastingly jovial tone.  _"Close the curtains and pull down the blinds; someone's putting on a show, but it ain't mine! Sorry fellows and girls alike, would love to see ya, but tonight just ain't my night.~"_ Either Foxy somehow was able to spontaneously create lyrics or this was yet another song that used to be a part of Freddy's songlist. Before he could even ask, Marionette sprung to life beside him, breaking into a spin. Mike grabbed the pole to brace it; apparently this was happening now.

" _Foxy, Foxy, don't be shy,~"_ Marionette chimed in contrast.  _"Come and sing with us tonight!~"_

" _Sorry, Lad, but I made up my mind!~"_ Foxy contrasted, wandering closer to the edge of the stage.  _"Beg and plead, but ya ain't in the right!~"_

Mike realized that there was no stopping the two. All he could do was hold the pole, give the illusion that he had some sort of control on the puppet, and hope that Riley wouldn't throw a fit and dock their promised pay. Thankfully, playing the puppeteer was an easy job when Marionette did everything on his own. While the song was about as cheesy as could be, there was a charm to the performance, especially when being so close. From this angle, he could see all the eager children, could tell how excited the animatronics were, and he was starting to understand.

Once the song came to a close, Foxy took ahold of the show again and it was obvious that he didn't intend to stop. He could care less what Riley had planned and, considering the situation, Mike and Natalie didn't have the means to stopping him. "Ah, what a good crew we got 'ere, Mari! All these lil swashbucklers in the makin'!"Foxy praised as he knelt down to look closer at the children. The ones closest to him, the younger ones, began to vocalize questions and comments. Already they were eating out of his hand.

Meanwhile, Marionette turned his head just slightly in Mike's direction. Without a word, he raised and offered his hand, as though wanting Mike's own. The security guard glanced over towards the audience; most were focused on Foxy and only one or two were looking at them. So, he went through with it, intending to briefly take the Puppet's hand and then drawing back. Marionette clutched his hand tightly, unwilling to let go and, beneath such a perfectly put together exterior, it felt unyieldingly desperate.

"You're doing fine," Mike whispered. He turned his head to shield his mouth from any prying eyes. "Don't freeze up. You got this. You're doing great." He held the base securely with his shoe and removed his hand from the pole, instead moving it to Marionette's back. He leaned just a bit closer and continued to whisper to him. "It's just like at the pizzeria. They're just new kids."

"So many eyes…" Marionette's voice wavered with an out of tune cracking. "I can barely stand it."

"Don't think about it. That'll just make it worse," Mike encouraged him. "And they're looking at Foxy too. He's got their attention right now, okay? Just relax." Marionette's hand softened its grip and he seemed to relax just a small bit. "Just remember that I'm not going anywhere. I'm right beside you and I'm not going anywhere… Because I'd look insane being dressed like this without you." This got a chime, then a low warble, and then was abruptly cut off by Foxy's attention being sent towards his sibling, now with a new song suggestion.

And suddenly Mike knew how important his task as a puppeteer was and why Marionette had been pushing for him to take the role. He needed him, and Mike was ready to oblige.

The show went smoothly from then on. After six more songs and a few moments of intermission between each, it finally ended and they could leave the stage. Which was a relief to Mike, who had begun to grow stiff standing in one spot for what was nearly an hour. After loading Foxy into the back of the van, Mike and Marionette were stuck waiting for Natalie to find Riley for payment. They had a somewhat obscured view of the stage and could see right when Chipper and a few others were loaded onto the stage.

"I'm sure they've done repairs since we last saw the show," Marionette remarked quietly. While they were secluded from the fairgoers, he still didn't dare raise his voice above a whisper. "They could be a form of competition in the future."

"Did you see how that bird's beak was flapping while they carried it out of their truck? They're just as loose as when we last saw them. I guarantee it," Mike quipped as he leaned against the van. "It's almost a shame we won't get to watch the show." It was a joke, of course. He had absolutely no urge to ever watch Chipper or the others again. Not after their nearly murderous rampage. "…Though at the rate we're going, we'll probably still be here after they leave."

He had no doubt that Natalie was having a hard time getting ahold of someone who was capable of paying. It was worth the wait, he supposed; he was certainly not planning on driving back up for the payment. This meant this drug out period of waiting with virtually nothing to do. It didn't help that the smell of fair food, probably from the audience of the show, was starting to get to him.

"I'm going to go find a concession stand. You can keep an eye out for Natalie," Mike abruptly spoke. He then started to sift through his pockets for his wallet. "Hopefully I'll find something that's only been fried once."

"Don't be gone too long," Marionette forewarned as he moved to the back of the van, guiding his 'stand' with him and starting to unweave his strings from his cross.

"Unless you want to come with me?" The offer was equally sudden and for a moment Marionette just stopped midway through what he was doing. He considered the idea, but then shook his head.

"It's not safe, but I appreciate the offer regardless." He continued to unwind himself. Mike wasn't as ready to give in.

"Come on, I'm going to look weird if I walk around like this and don't have you with me. At least with the both of us they can buy that I'm some sort of performer," Mike pressed. Then he decided to change tactics. "Besides, you were the one bringing up how exciting it would be." He reached forward and laid his hands on Marionette's shoulders, trailing along the strings. "Think about it; nobody will know that less than a few feet away is a living animatronic. All we'd have to do is play the role. What's more exciting than that?"

Maybe Mike was getting a little too into the danger of the situation. Indeed, if they got caught they would be in serious hot water, but if they weren't, if they could hold their own, then they would have that cheap thrill that Mike sought out. "What do you say? I'll win you a bear or something."

"…And Foxy?" Marionette inquired, peering in at his brother. Foxy looked mostly limp in the spot behind the driver's seat, so it seemed like he was sleeping or had somehow shut himself down.

"He'll be fine. I'll lock the door and we'll be back before Natalie gets here," Mike pointed out. He then shot a look over at the stage and noticed Chipper's son flailing its arms. He couldn't tell if it was part of the show or yet another glitch. "It's either that or standing here watching Chipper and co have a seizure."

After a few moments of thought, Marionette slowly closed the van door again. "Then lead the way!"


	60. Chapter 60

So many people. So many eyes staring. Not one of them suspected that they were walking past something living.

Mike couldn't help but feel the thrill. He was like a child with his hand in the cookie jar, if the joy was the risk of getting caught and not the cookie. Marionette was much more uneasy, but he couldn't help but stare eagerly at the stalls and the rides of the fair. He hadn't been to one of these since he was very young and all those years only added up. Even when they got many spectators, staring blatantly and occasionally even slowing down, he was much too happy to even suggest going back. Not that he really could; he had to stay still.

Thankfully, all the eyes did their job. He didn't think he could move even if he wanted to and could only allow himself to partially move along with Mike's own coaxing. It was obvious that Mike was much less worried. If anything, he didn't seem like he was rushing to find anything to eat as he started to scrutinize the stalls. Eventually he did settle at one extravagant one that toted it would 'fry anything, anywhere, anytime'. Regardless of Mike's seeming disinterest in friend foods earlier, he caved to the carnival.

It was here that he faced his first challenge of the evening. A father and a couple of young children approached the booth as well. It was all that he could stand to not immediately slip into the mindset of being an entertainer. It was almost as though it was programming, gnawing at him and telling him to tend to them. Yet he resisted, even when they were clearly looking at him interest. The children pointed him out to their father and asked typical questions; mostly what he was and eventually the expected question asking where he was 'won'.

Indeed, Marionette looked like a prize by the way he was strung and fully under the control of someone else. It was almost maddening, but not quite yet. Not unless they had to spend more time at this stall, listening to Mike slowly turn down everything that the two men running the stall were listing through.

"Now on paper, pickles and bananas don't seem to go together, but they've been our best seller this year," the one man insisted with a completely straight face. "If you want, we could give you a free sample."

"I think I'd rather scrape this toxic plaster off my face and deep fry it," Mike blatantly said. The stall runner laughed as though they thought this was a joke, even though Mike was also saying this with a completely straight face. Then he pulled back from the counter, "Hold on." Hooking his foot around the base of the stand, he turned the Puppet towards the children before grasping the pole again and turning back to the seller. "Just give me whatever you have that won't immediately give me a heart attack."

Marionette didn't know if Mike was giving him the go ahead to interact with the children or just turning him to look at them, but he gave into his programming and reached forward to pat the closer child's head. The boy seemed startled by the motion, but didn't pull away or hide behind his father. Though, naturally, the moment that the children were comfortable enough to move in closer, their father suddenly seemed to notice what was happening and became visibly wary. As timing would have it, this was about the same time that Mike led him away.

But they still didn't return to the van. Marionette wasn't able to vocally remind Mike about Natalie and Foxy, but even if he would've reminded it would've been out of obligation. Part of him truly did want to keep wandering around and seeing everything. He could only imagine what this would look like at night; he could already envision the bright lights framing the booths and machines. It was a shame that he couldn't teleport this far or he would return once darkness fell.

"Is that a knock-off Freddy?" Mike suddenly asked, bringing Marionette back to the present. The Puppet's eyes scanned the area before landing on a nearby stall. If he wasn't so in control, he would've clearly showed some sort of shock. The plush toys hanging down from the top of a nearby stall clearly resembled Freddy Fazbear to a remarkable degree, though it was not authentic. Marionette had held most of the Fazbear plushes that had been in rotation and could immediately spot the differences.

"Yeah, that's knock-off Freddy. I'm sure he's rolling around in his grave knowing that the fairground is making money off what slightly resembles his face," Mike remarked in what was obviously a joke, but was flat enough to be bought as fake. It managed to be more genuine than the faux-Fazbear plush.

"…I think he would be flattered," Marionette quietly tried as he kept his voice as low as possible. "Then he would be furious." This got a chuckle out of Mike before he reached into his pocket for his wallet. Marionette gave a curious chime.

"I told you I was planning on winning you a bear, right?" Mike asked with an amused smile. "Why not a bear that probably legally belongs to us anyway?" He approached the stall, juggling the items and guiding the pole along with him. The stall itself seemed to be the standard dart throwing game and thankfully there wasn't any more questionable merchandise. The bundle of Freddys merely sat surround by a trio of blind mice resembling dolls; not a Foxy in sight. Which was a relief, as then Marionette would've become much more concerned.

Five dollars bought five darts. With a simple, "Hold my stick," Mike handed over the bizarre monstrosity on a stick- which may have been a banana at some point- to Marionette and prepared to throw. He wanted to encourage him, but again was limited. Unfortunately, the stall owner this time around was very interested in the Puppet. She looked at him with an odd sort of interest and was even willing to ignore Mike to study him. Perhaps she knew Freddy's; he hoped she didn't. He hoped that she was only interested because he was holding this deep fried, chocolate dipped confusion.

"Where'd you win this one?" the woman jokingly asked as she leaned on the counter and adjusted her glasses. She seemed like the typical grandmotherly type, or at least jovial. "She looks a little too big to be hanging on a wall."

"I've been asked that twice, actually," Mike remarked. He then paused long enough to throw three of the darts, popping three of the balloons. "He gets a lot of attention."

"I could imagine," the woman agreed. Now she directed her gaze to Mike's matching face paint.

Mike must've noticed her gaze as after he finished he made a point of explaining, "We just got off stage. Now we're blowing through our portion of the payment." He gestured up to the Freddy plush. "I'll take the bear."

"With five darts you get a small prize. To get a medium prize you need to hit no less than ten balloons. To upgrade to a large, you'll need fifteen." The look Mike shot the woman was priceless; as though he was baffled by the idea of paying for. He shot a brief look over at Marionette, gave a tired exhale, and dug back into his wallet.

"Sure, what's five more dollars?" Mike asked as he handed the money over. "Except for our gas money," he added in under his breath. Again, he was given five more darts and this time he decided to not engage in any conversation. Hitting the balloons was easy, but while Marionette was impressed, he could feel the budding annoyance. He couldn't help but be somewhat amused by it.

With the last balloon, Mike turned back to the woman. "There's ten." He had calmed down by now and seemed ready to take the plush and leave.

"Great, so now you have a medium prize," she began. "Top hat bear is a large, which means you just need five more." There was the dumbstruck look Marionette was expecting. He gave a light chime without thinking and the woman's head snapped to him. "Your little friend's making noises."

" _He's got a built-in scam detector_ ," Mike wanted to say. Instead, what came out was a still baffled, "Fifteen dollars?"

"You could trade out for one of the medium prizes if you'd like. This entire back row is medium prizes," the woman tried to pacify, seemingly unfazed by the man's reaction. "But where else are you going to find a bear this cute?"

"Freddy Fazbear's Pizza," Mike blatantly dropped against his better judgement. Thankfully, the woman either didn't know what he was talking about or had an excellent poker face. He sent an exasperated glance to Marionette, witnessed his poker face, and determined to just go along with it. If not for the knock-off Freddy, then for Marionette… Or the reactions that Fritz and Jeremy would have seeing this thing in person. "Alright, fine." He slapped down another five dollars. She turned away to get more darts and Marionette sympathetically offered the stick back.

One angry bite and a few mutters later and Mike was again popping balloons. By now there was a small group forming behind them, though they were more staring at the spectacle than waiting in line. With the last balloon, Mike gave a firm, "I want my bear."

"Congratulations!" the woman lightly praised as she reached upwards to unhook the plush. She then announced louder, "We have a winner!" like she was trying to assure that the game was winnable. Indeed, it was. Though Mike felt less like a champion and more like a chump. Fifteen dollars for what wasn't even legitimate merchandise; at least he had a conversation topic for the three-hour ride home. He took the bear and turned to leave, but almost immediately came face to face with the small group.

Silently, with growing confusion, Mike wheeled Marionette away from the stall. Once they got far enough away, he dared to speak, "What the hell was that?"

"I think it's what they call a bait and switch," Marionette quietly remarked, keeping an eye out. "Can we switch, by the way?" Mike stopped long enough to take the stick and hand over the bear, which Marionette clutched onto eagerly. It was bigger than most of the plush toys that he had worked with in the Prize Corner. He knew that the movement risked him being noticed, especially with all the people, but decided that small movements were probably passable.

"I meant that little mob that formed behind us. How long was that going on?" Mike's face suddenly crossed with alarm. "Nobody heard that Freddy comment, did they? That could get us in hot water."

"They were too busy waiting to see if you were going to miss the last throw and fly into a rampage," Marionette remarked back. Then they passed by a rather large family and Marionette decided to, instead of lowering his voice, try something a bit different. As though a faint whisper echoing in his head, Mike could hear the panging of a voice coming from the center of his mind. "I love when you get riled."

"Enjoy it why you can, because I'm never playing carnival darts again. Not unless there's money on the table," Mike responded quietly, vocally. It wasn't as though he was able to use any sort of telepathy. Though as Marionette chimed he could hear laughter inside of his head. Deep inside where it couldn't be droned out. With every word, it felt as though vibrations were spreading through the inside of his head; uncomfortable and new. He would have to get used to this.

He steered them back in the direction of the van. By now Natalie had to be back and waiting for them, and Mike didn't exactly want to stick around much longer. The dispute at the stall had left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Stop," Marionette suddenly echoed. Mike came to an abrupt stop on a dime.

"What? What is it?" He looked around with an almost paranoid glint.

"Over there." Looking to Marionette's turned head, Mike followed his gaze to a small group beside another game stall. He couldn't recognize any of them.

"I don't know what you're pointing me at. Do you mean that guy in the back or…?" It was only at this moment that he realized the cryptic tone was not sent towards any person, but to the stall itself. Almost immediately his concern dropped to disinterest. "You're kidding me," he muttered as he noticed the multitude of beanie babies. He was starting to regret introducing him to the toys. "I seem to recall saying something about not letting this carnival eat any more of our money."

"But they're adorable! And so many- I could finally get that weasel I've been searching for," Marionette insisted. His eager voice chirped with the same chime on the inside that it did on the outside. Though something about the inward talking was starting to give Mike the slightest bit of a headache. "Please? I'll owe you, I promise." Thus, the favor system returned with a vengeance. Which was probably for the better, as by now Mike forgot who owed whom.

Though the offer was tempting enough, and from the prize selection it seemed like the beanie babies would be the 'small' prizes. "…Sure… Alright, yeah, you owe me," Mike agreed, with his previous tone turning to a more thoughtful one. Marionette didn't really know how to feel about Mike's tone; he may have unintentionally opened the door for any sort of request. He couldn't deny that he was curious regardless.

While the prize was an easier one, the stall itself toted a harder game. Instead of popping balloons with darts, which was relatively easy, the game involved throwing cork balls into a hole that was only slightly bigger. A little more difficult, but again he was basically trying to win the pity prize. A woman who looked to be in her twenties tended to them while the small group, which seemed to be a family, was addressed by a man of about the same age. She greeted them and began to eagerly recite the rules once Mike paid another four dollars.

"The rules are simple," the girl said in a bubbly tone. "You just try to get the ball into the hole. You get three shots to-." It was around this time that Mike started to hear dial-up noises in the back of his mind. At first, he considered that it could be his own boredom was literally manifesting itself into noise, but the more obvious solution was that it was Marionette unintentionally sending the noises telepathically.

Assuming that the Puppet simply didn't realize he was doing it, Mike reached out to his back and tapped him. Almost immediately, the noises died and Mike could focus on the woman. He believed the issue was fixed and assumed that the Puppet was annoyed at the stall or the woman for whatever reason. The woman handed over the three balls, stepped out of the way, Mike prepared his first throw-

-and someone cleared their throat behind him.

Mike turned back only to see none other than Glenn standing behind him. He didn't know which of them looks more surprised, but he certainly recovered faster than the older man. "Glenn, hey. I didn't see you at the stage," Mike remarked, trying to sound completely innocent. "I saw that Chipper was here, but I didn't think you came out on the field."

Glenn decided to skip the pleasantries and go straight to what had him dumbstruck. "What are you doing dressed like that out with…" His gaze lingered on the Puppet. He simply stared at it in disbelief and perhaps slight suspicion. He looked at him like he knew more than he let on. Mike preferred to play dumb if he could and, hopefully, avoid any further questioning.

"We just got off the stage and needed to stretch before our never-ending drive back south," Mike explained somewhat convincingly. "Speaking of which, could you hold this?" He offered the remaining half of his food. Instead, Glenn hooked an arm around him and pulled him in closer.

"Mike, what are you thinking? Doesn't that thing have a box?" Glenn asked in a jarringly scolding fashion. As though he was his boss, or Fredrick, or at least thought that Mike somehow didn't know any better. Between that and the surprising amount of offense that he felt when the word 'thing' dropped into the conversation. He was surprised that he couldn't hear Marionette's static, but somehow the animatronic suppressed it.

"Do I look like I'm just wearing this face paint for kicks? I'm playing puppeteer," Mike answered. He tried to keep his emotions bottled enough to not raise suspicion. "Look, Glenn, I know you and everyone else has some sort of paranoia about the Puppet-," he said as though he didn't entire understand the paranoia, "-but I'm trying to start a business and I'm taking whatever advertising I can get."

"I don't know if you realize what you're fooling around with," Glenn insisted, sending a glance back towards the Puppet. His gaze lingered there. "…Let's just say that I've heard horror stories."

"Not that you'd admit to them, right?" Mike snipped back. Glenn's face shot to a look of alarm yet again. "Of course, nobody has stories until they need to use them. You should know by now that I know what I'm doing." This was punctuated by a strange 'thunk' noise from behind.

"…Okay…" Glenn looked past him and then looked back. "…What about now?"

"What?" Mike looked back and there was Marionette, actively moving, grabbing for the second of the cork balls after having apparently thrown the first one. The security guard shoved the stick into Glenn's hand and smoothly shoved one hand on the pole and the other on the Puppet's back. Then he scrambled out a half-processed excuse. "I've got a Puppet, I ought to use it. You know, put on a show wherever you go. It's not hard to get him moving." Then he waited to see if any of them sunk.

To his immediate relief, it was apparent that the girl running the stall and the other people around the stall thought it was a performance. They were watching with interest, with smiles, thinking that this was all some sort of extravagant puppeteering act. Unfortunately, Mike really had no control, so as marionette took the next ball in hand he could only hope that the Puppet kept everything quiet enough to be buyable.

The second throw went again into the hole; Mike started to wonder if Marionette was partially cheating or if he secretly had the arm of a pitcher. Or if he was releasing frustration through throwing as hard as he could. That was also a possibility. After the final throw, Marionette dropped his arms down beside his sides and fell dormant again. Mike did a final once-over of the group. Everyone looked just as impressed as before… Except Glenn. Glenn's expression was simply blank and it was only now that Mike considered that this was a terrible mistake.

Because Glenn had every reason to suspect them. He knew about Freddy's, he knew about the Puppet, he probably knew about Afton's, and he probably knew others who knew how to keep secrets.

" _What am I thinking? This is Glenn. Glenn can barely hide the disaster going on at Chipper's. He's not a threat. He's not Afton,"_ Mike reassured himself.  _"As far as he's concerned, I'm just a guy whose way too invested in my animatronic… And that's not too far from the mark."_ He leaned forward on the stall, "You wouldn't by chance have a weasel floating around there, would you?" As she looked, Mike turned back to Glenn. "Everything's under control."

"I hope so…" Glenn kept his voice cautiously quiet. "Because if it's not, then you're playing with fire." He then offered back the stick.

"…I seem to remember there being something on that before I handed it to you," Mike pointed out as he took it.

"Something's a good word for it," Glenn stated. Mike had to admit that it was true, but he didn't have to like it. "Take care, Kid. If you're ever looking to buy fifty feet of metal piping, you'll know where I'll be." He patted him on the shoulder, turned, left a lingering look of wariness on the Puppet, and finally left. It was almost like he was spooked, being that he took off so quickly. Considering how deadly Marionette's fastball seemed to be, Mike didn't blame him. He did take this all as a sign that carnival time was over.

While there weren't any weasels, the woman managed to find an otter and a panther. Being in the general shape, Mike agreed to those and continued the walk back towards the car.

Once it seemed like they were mostly alone, Mike decided to whisper again. "Glenn's onto you."

"I know," Marionette admitted. "Do you think I would've risked it on anyone else? I would prefer he did see me… Considering how he handles his animatronics." His voice bubbled with growing anger. "Alive or not, he should take better care of them. I couldn't even imagine if they were alive- it's amusing to chortle and observe knowing that they are just mindless machines, but knowing that he treats his 'entertainers' with such little care… Perhaps he would do well knowing that someone is watching."

This was the first time Mike heard anything this cryptic on the subject. Before, Marionette had been amused by the disastrous show, and had shown no qualms in outwardly making jokes at the non-sentient animatronics. It seemed that the moment humans got involved, his tone grew bitter. Yet he was right. The thought of an animatronic kept in disarray, a living one- specifically Marionette- suddenly made Mike feel rather sick. He could imagine cracked porcelain and dusty fabric. It only made it worse when Mike considered how many years were unaccounted for.

There was a space between when Marionette worked at the old pizzeria and when he went with Fredrick. As of now, Mike had no idea how long that time was or what Marionette had been. He was almost afraid of the reaction, or answers, he would receive if he dared to ask. Thankfully, Marionette was instead distracted by the carousel as they started by. Even though it wasn't dark yet, the lights were already gleaming and the soft music spread along the ground like a wave of ocean water. Of course, only music could relax him, and he fell back into silence.

No static, no dialing, just a simple silence as they continued back to the van. Naturally, more people watched, but it was much less impactful. The earlier events had only proved that the vast majority of people wouldn't think of something suspicious. Normal people wouldn't just assume that the animatronics were haunted; Mike had been spending too much time dealing with people immediately connected with Freddy's.

Still, the tension did ease once they got to the van. Nobody was looking forward to a drive, but there was no further reason to wander around the crowd of people. The initial thrill had already worn off and was now replaced with a growing weariness. Chipper's group had already left the stage and were replace by a small band of guitar toting musicians. He could only expect that Glenn left extremely quickly after spontaneously running into him, which was probably for the best.

Mike opened the back of the van and Marionette set the prizes inside before detaching himself from the pole. Getting his strings out of his cross was a little more difficult and he found himself in a brief battle to untangle himself from it, all the while Mike just watched on with what looked like a budding smirk. Only once the Puppet was free did Mike continue with his actual job in taking the stand apart and loading it into the back of the van. When he went to shut the doors, he was abruptly stopped by Marionette's hand on his arm.

He had sent one look over towards the other side of the van- seeing Foxy seemingly asleep and Natalie distracted with something in the driver's seat- and assumed he could get away with it. Tugging Mike closer, he leaned upwards and briefly kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," he chimed.

"For the bear?" Mike half-guessed.

"For being such a  _wonderful_ puppeteer," Marionette clarified. He pulled him down further to briefly wrap his arms around him. The codeword didn't go over Mike's head; he knew that Marionette meant more than just 'puppeteer' from his wording.

"Couldn't have done it without you," Mike remarked as he briefly indulged in holding him close. It only occurred to him now how close they had been and yet how far they were kept apart. He spent the entire evening within arm's length, but he hadn't technically been able to hold him. Even now he was risking it. Who knew if Glenn was still wandering around in the tents somewhere. "Get some rest. We've got a long ride." He drew back and went to shut the doors.

Marionette felt an inward chirp in delight, before he looked over and his joy plummeted. There was Foxy, now very much awake and staring with a lack of emotion and the occasional twitch. He knew exactly what Foxy thought of them, what he was thinking now, and awkwardly fussed with the plushes. "…I thought you were asleep."

"I don't sleep anymore, Lad. Too much stuff happens when I ain't awake," Foxy snipped as he crossed his arms. "And you were?"

"Enjoying myself," Marionette slid closer, offering the faux Freddy plush. "And reuniting with some old friends." Foxy took one confused look at the Freddy before amusement took hold.

"Ah, there's a sight for sore eyes!" Foxy then whispered lower, "Bet 'ol Freddy be writhing in his grave."

Up front, Mike climbed into the passenger seat and sent a confused look towards Natalie. "I thought I was driving home."

"Don't worry about it. I wouldn't have anything to do if I wasn't driving," Natalie insisted. She didn't question where he was and instead was halfway finished with a donut. "I got the cash. I didn't count it, but it looks like it's all there, so if you're bored it's in the envelope." She gestured between the seats and started the van. "Everyone ready?"

"Aye."

"Alright! Time to head home!" Natalie threw the van into drive and pulled out of the parking lot. It didn't take long to be back on the highway and to be heading back home yet again.

"It's all here," Mike pointed out as he slipped the envelope into the glove compartment. "We'll put it in the safe while we're dropping off Foxy." This was a viable plan and Mike leaned back against the seat, staring out at the darkened mountains off in the distance. He exhaled tiredly and let his eyes close.

The next thing Mike knew, he was being roused by someone shaking his shoulder. "Mike? We're home," Marionette quietly explained, his hand squeezing his shoulder.

"We're here," Natalie clarified as well. "So, unless you want to sleep in the van, this is the end of the line." An amused smile passed her lips and he awkwardly looked out the window. Indeed, they were outside of the house.

"Damn, I don't even remember falling asleep…" It was a relief that he did, though as he started to sit upwards he felt a stiffness in his back. Not the best sleep he had gotten, but it helped kill the long drive. He shuffled upwards in the chair. "We took Foxy back?"

"I'll take him to the pizzeria. I don't think you'll be much help unconscious," Natalie teased. She then nursed at a coffee that she had somehow got ahold of on the way home. He had slept through that too apparently. Mike decided not to argue and opened the passenger door.

"Would you mind carrying knock-off Freddy inside?" Marionette asked and, after receiving a brief assurance, set the larger plush into his lap. As he leaned in, he gave a quiet, "I'll be waiting for you. Don't be too long." Then he took the others into his arms before teleporting inside. After a quick goodbye, Mike stepped out of the van and followed suite.

Natalie waved with a simple smile as she waited for the front door to close. Now she was alone with Foxy, which may have been part of the plan. "Hey, Foxy?" she asked as she pulled back out onto the road. "Is it just me, or is there… Something weird going on with those two?"

* * *

"Today, Kids, we got a special Lass joinin' our crew!"

The discomfort was still there. The stiffness in the joints and the tightness of the plates; it was all very claustrophobic. This had to be done eventually. There was no time like the present.

"She be a lil shy, so give her yer biggest pirate welcome."

Foxy was waiting for her to step out. Marionette was waiting for her to step out. Everyone was waiting for her to appear. Everyone was so eager to see her, and there was no reason not to give the best impression that could be given. All that had to be taken was that first step. One step, through the curtain, and into their line of vision.

"Put yer hands and hooks together fer Baby!"

With a growing tenseness, the tightening increasing, the coils squeezing in, Baby stepped through the curtain and raised her hand in greeting.

"Hello, boys and girls. It's nice to meet you," Baby greeted with as much calmness as could be mustered. Too much nervousness and her voice would be tainted; Baby needed to keep as calm as possible. The children all looked so excited at the new, towering animatronic.

"Baby's gonna be part of our crew fer now on," Foxy clarified to the children. None of them argued with it or questioned it. Baby continued to wave and smile at them. It really wasn't that hard, to be honest. Not nearly as hard as one would think from watching Foxy and Marionette appease the kids. So many kids, but they were so easy to entertain. Maybe all they needed was a song, or for someone to carry them out a piece of birthday cake.

The five at the table could use cake. Maybe the three standing near the arcade could use a few free tokens. The six crowding Foxy seemed taken care of enough. Then the four by the door and the two by the window. The five that looked like they were there for a party, then there were three, then four, then two, five, three, six, two, and one. At a single table, there was one.

Baby was determined not to go near the lone child.

Baby didn't have much of a choice.


	61. Chapter 61

Baby was working out rather well. While she had yet to perform any one on one interactions with the children, including the birthday children, she had decided to try by singing and had found a niche in it. She knew many songs and could pull off different tones and emotions with ease while singing. This was more than enough to be a successful day for any animatronic. Marionette was very proud of her progress.

With two animatronics on the floor, Marionette kept to the Prize Corner and circulate through his task with ease. In periods without any children, he would turn back to his sketches. He had almost settled on a design for the next version of plush toy and was almost ready to present the idea to his coworkers. Considering that they would have to send in the prints to the supply company, he was forced to show them the designs. They had to be perfect, or at least not as embarrassing.

His work was interrupted by yet another visitor to the Prize Corner. Though this time it wasn't the usual child that he was expecting, but young Chrissy. Marionette immediately perked and looked to the female with his natural, wide smile. "Welcome back," he chirped. The room was empty other than the two of them, so he wasn't worried about being silent.

"Hello, Mari," Chrissy greeted with a much less meek tone. She didn't seem nearly as shy as she had been before, which he could only be thrilled to hear and see. "I drew another picture for you." She eagerly handed it over and the Puppet scanned it happily. It was them together again, but this time there was also Foxy off to the side, carrying a cake with him. She sheepishly waited for his assessment.

"It's perfect!" Marionette chirped as he turned towards the back wall to tape it with the other. "And I'm sure Foxy will love it too, but he'll have to come in here to see it, because I'm keeping it close by!~" He gave a happy chime as quickly finished and looked to her again. She waited expectantly and he tilted his head curiously.

"My birthday is coming," Chrissy admitted with the meekness returning. She then fell silent.

"Really? That's wonderful!" Marionette reassured. "I hope you decide to have your party here."

"I want to," Chrissy insisted, eagerness appearing at the offer. "You'd throw me a party?"

"Of course! I would be honored." This wasn't an exaggeration. The Puppet wanted nothing more than to appease his young friend in any way that he could, and celebrating birthdays was what he was made for. Between the programming assurance and the happiness coming from the children, the birthday parties fulfilled a need that nothing else could. "Foxy and Baby would be too."

At the mention of the two, Chrissy looked towards the ground and fidgeted her hands together. Marionette was surprised by the gesture, "Is something wrong?"

"Baby… Baby scares me," the girl admitted. He couldn't tell if she was embarrassed by it or afraid that he would be upset by the comment. "She's just- She's so big." This wasn't too surprising to the Puppet. Baby towered over the children; she was even taller than Foxy himself. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Baby's new here, so it'll take some time to get used to her," he reassured her. He could clearly remember fearing the towering animatronics, so he knew exactly how Chrissy felt. "…But why don't you stay with me today instead? We can have plenty of fun on our own!" This encouragement was exactly what Chrissy needed to regain her smile in full. "Now first, why don't you help me design the new plushes?"

Thus, the day truly began. There was something especially nice about having Chrissy constantly at his side. Underneath that shy exterior, the girl was full of ideas, and surprisingly articulate for her age. Whatever her age was, which Marionette assumed that he would learn on her impending birthday. Every moment that they spoke, that she opened to him, he felt less like a friend and more like a guardian. It was a wonderful feeling; he could take care of someone without the tragedy of Freddy's taking hold.

Eventually, Marionette did have to do his rounds, and Chrissy followed along beside him. She stepped out of the way and watched when he would hand out tokens or step in on one of the parties for the day. Thankfully, both parties were entirely pirate themed and specifically asked for Foxy, so he wasn't required to be there. He didn't have to stay for the entire duration before circling again.

Then there was Baby. Baby still was in the same spot, cycling through songs and greeting passing children, but seemed to be doing well. While Marionette knew Chrissy was afraid of Baby, she convinced her to approach closer for an introduction. If only so Marionette could show off his fan to what was basically his sister. The girl stayed close to his side as they approached and he took her hand with his own. He chimed to catch Baby's attention and gestured down to Chrissy.

Baby's movements were sluggish as she looked down at the girl. Her faceplates shifted and the sound of shifting metal could be heard from her depths. It took her a few seconds to concoct a response. "Hello. I see you brought a friend with you," she greeted. "What's your name?" Her voice was halting and stiff. Marionette could easily assume that she was trying to play the role by not looking too lifelike. This made more than enough sense.

"Chrissy…" the girl quietly introduced. She tightened her grip on Marionette's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Chrissy. I hope you're having fun with Marionette," Baby continued, trying to keep a sort of vocal distance. Marionette chirped happily in his own answer.

"I-I am. Mari's my best friend, he's always fun." The Puppet didn't know if this was true, but Chrissy certainly knew how to make him feel special. He eagerly chimed again. "We-."

"Would you like some ice cream?" Baby blurted out, interrupting the girl. Now both Chrissy and Marionette stared in response. Almost immediately, Baby added in a continued response. "B-Because Jeremy had- he was giving out ice cream earlier. He- He has plenty…" Her eyes began to twitch and shift about as her plates trembled. There was a hesitance in her voice and for a moment she almost dropped completely out of character. Then her eyes locked onto something nearby. "Oh! Or you could play that game; the box with the toys inside. Someone won that earlier."

Somehow, she managed to regain compositor. With a normal smile, Marionette gave a nod and offered the token basket to Chrissy. There were only a few left, but she only took one before heading over to the machine with the Puppet. She almost refused to let go of his hand, and after Baby's odd outburst, Marionette didn't entirely blame her.

Yet the day continued happily enough. It took four tries, which involved having to exchange more of her change for tokens, but the girl managed to win a cupcake plush. Marionette couldn't help but show favoritism, but whenever other children would approach he would shower them in attention. Chrissy seemed to understand; whenever Marionette was busy, she usually migrated over to the arcade for a few minutes. Or, once in particular, she approached Foxy who took a few moments to entertain her and a couple of other children.

Unsurprisingly, Chrissy stayed until closing time. Once it was nearing on seven o'clock, Marionette decided to question her on it. By now they were back in the Prize Corner together, so they were freer to talk. With most of the children gone, there were less prizes and tickets that needed exchanging, so they were mostly safe from being heard.

"Chrissy… Why don't your parents ever come get you?" Marionette asked as carefully as he could. "You stay rather late. Do they know you're here?"

"…No," Chrissy admitted quietly. "…But they're busy. They don't notice."

"Don't they wonder why you're not home?" Marionette inquired in concern.

"They don't know I'm not home. They don't get home until later," she explained. "But I'm old enough to watch myself. Just as long as I don't answer the door for anybody." This was more concerning than he could've expected as an explanation. Staying home alone wasn't too unheard of; his own father frequently left him alone or with his older brother. However, that didn't mean that Marionette condoned it. If anything, he was starkly against it. Who knew what trouble a child could get in alone. With or without other children.

"Well… Perhaps Mr. Schmidt and I should take you home. I don't want you having to walk home to an empty house," Marionette offered. While the girl seemed unconcerned about walking home, she did brighten at the suggestion, and thus the Puppet considered it a good plan. "Then it's settled! I'll go tell Mike about our plan. Here," he paused to hand over a token. "One last game for the road." With a quick 'thank you', Chrissy hurried off to the arcade. Now that the Pizzeria was mostly empty, save the workers, she felt much more comfortable hurrying around the tables.

She stopped at the Foxy's Flight game and dropped a token in, but then noticed what sounded like muffled talking. It was soon drowned out by the sounds of the game. It wasn't until he hit the game over screen that she was able to hear the noise again. It was murmuring coming from the cracked door of the kitchen nearby. Curiosity sunk in and she crept closer to the door. She nudged the door open and peered inside.

There was Baby, standing by the refrigerator all alone. She was turned away and quietly talking to herself. Chrissy could hear bits of words and sad tones, but it wasn't enough to make out what she meant. She considered what she would do. Baby did frighten her, but she was much less frightening in the brightly lit kitchen, standing near a plate topped with leftover cupcakes. Everything smelled sweet and looked so welcoming, and Baby herself wasn't that scary now that she had been around her.

That was, until the female animatronic perked and turned her heavy body to face the small girl. At this moment, the female clown fell entirely silent. For a few moments, they were just staring at each other. Then Baby's eyes slid over and locked onto the plate of cupcakes. She now walked over with sluggish steps and took one of the cupcakes in her hand, partially smearing the frosting on her fingers. She turned her body back towards Chrissy and held out her hand with the offering.

Seeing the cupcake and the gesture, Chrissy took a hesitant step into the kitchen. Perhaps Baby was like Marionette. Maybe she just needed to give her a chance instead of fearing her. A few steps closer and she could hear what Baby was saying. "No, no. Not like this." Chrissy didn't know what she meant. For a moment the girl hesitated, but then continued further on. She hesitantly reached out for the cupcake, biting her lip, and the blue eyes stayed on her with every movement.

Then, suddenly, the arm moved away. Chrissy looked upwards at Baby's face and noticed that her eyes were now empty, black holes.

"…I'm sorry."

The plates on her belly opened like a gaping maw and out from within burst a wire claw, like a grabbing hand.

Chrissy only had a moment before she was grabbed by the shirt and yanked towards Baby's gaping front. The girl screamed and reacted immediately, beating back on the grip with both hands. The enormous animatronic was much too strong to fight against and she was pulled closer towards the moving wires shifting deep inside, as though making room for her. As though Baby was preparing to eat her.

"It'll only be a moment," Baby quietly encouraged. It wasn't audible over the shrieking. "I promise, it'll only be a short moment."

Right as Chrissy started to close in on the opening, blackness suddenly obstructed her vision, and the feeling of fabric counteracted the sensation of warm metal. Out of nowhere, Marionette had appeared into the kitchen and without a hitch he wedged himself in between the small gap between Chrissy and Baby. Chrissy was still screaming and Baby's grasp was still just as tight. The Puppet had one arm around the girl, holding her flush to his chest, and shoved the other behind him in an attempt to strike Baby's head.

His strings slid out and wound around the claw, trying to stop its slow sliding into Baby's opening, and it was now that Baby found her voice again. Instead of words, she began to release a noise like a mechanical shriek. Marionette had heard these shrieks from animatronics before, from himself, but all it did was trigger his own defenses. 'Pop Goes the Weasel' started swallow his hearing and his adrenaline, or what he had as a replacement, kicked into some sort of higher gear. He was wired and nowhere near ready to falter.

Marionette twisted his body around and planted his legs against the upper part of her chest, right above the opening. His legs weren't strong enough to fully push them back, but it was enough to keep space between the girl and the animatronic. His eyes scanned with glowing pinpricks, looking for the emergency stop and finding nothing. He couldn't remember where it was. He didn't even know if it would work. In desperation, he lashed out and dug his fingers into the empty eyeholes before yanking back, trying to pry Baby's face open.

Wires slid out of Baby's depths and started to entangle around the Puppet's body. It was almost exactly like when they were down in Afton's and he wondered if the tangle of wires before had been Ennard at all, but Baby. If she had been lying the entire time about her innocence. Chrissy let out another shriek as the claw tugged and went to move in again. She wasn't strong enough to tear herself out of the grasp and Marionette struggled to keep her halfway behind him, trying to focus beyond the immediate panic.

It was now when Fritz and Mike barged into the kitchen, and it was right afterwards that Foxy barreled in past. As Mike threw himself at Baby's leg, trying to activate the emergency release and barely managing to pry a looser panel off her lower leg. Instead of an immediate release, it was just a mess of improperly placed wires. The body transfer had left Baby's insides in a tangle, meaning that the emergency stop was either missing or no longer even existed.

Foxy planted his hand on Marionette's shoulder and started to shove him back. Then he swiped his hook forward and lodged it into the claw protruding from Baby's abdomen. The claw suddenly released and both Chrissy and Marionette fell heavily to the kitchen floor. Almost immediately, the Puppet turned over, grabbed Chrissy in his arms, and took off out of the kitchen and through the dining hall. He didn't care that she could see that he wasn't using his strings. At this point he was too panicked to worry.

He blew past the horrified faces of Natalie and Jeremy, the latter who gave out a cry of, "What's going on?! What happened?!" Marionette was in no state to answer. He fled into the Prize Corner with the young girl still in his arms.

Back in the kitchen, the turmoil was only continuing.

"What were you thinking?!" Foxy roared in accusation at Baby. Her wires receded into her body and her plates quickly closed. Blue eyes, marred with alarm slid back into position. "You could of killed her!  **What were you doing?!** "

"I-I didn't want to!" Baby insisted in protest. Panic was coating her voice, but Mike was skeptical. From Foxy's behavior, it was obvious that he felt the same way. "There's something wrong with me! They did something to my body!" Her desperate pleas were quickly falling on deaf ears. At this point, Mike started out of the kitchen to go to the Prize Corner. In his last moments with the door opened he could still hear Baby babbling out excuses. "They tainted me!"

Jeremy was at his side the moment he stepped out the door, while Natalie immediately went inside. Most likely, she didn't want to leave Fritz alone after whatever happened. Either way, the security guard brushed by with a few dismissive words and continued towards the Prize Counter. The box was closed tightly and as he approached he felt a nagging worry. He reached out and laid a hand on the top of the box. Almost immediately afterwards, he could hear low static releasing from the box. Undeterred, Mike opened one of the flaps.

Once Marionette realized it was Mike at his box, he quieted down. Considering how well he could fold himself and how short Chrissy was, it wasn't too surprising that they were able to fit into the box together. Mike made it his priority to check on the child. He quickly looked her over and other than looking like she was in shock, with a red face splotched with tears, she didn't seem to be injured. Maybe shaken, but there was no blood and no marks that looked like they would be become bruises.

Mike wanted to say something, but as he opened his mouth it seemed to dry out. A sudden sensation of terror climbed his spine. The girl was alright, but Baby might have just destroyed everything. Their business was in jeopardy, Marionette and Foxy were on the line, and as of right now their future relied on how one young girl would react to being violently attacked. "Are… Are you okay?"

It took a moment for Chrissy to respond. As though suddenly roused from a slumber, Chrissy could speak again. "I want to go home," she forced out. Immediately following this, Marionette began to rise and helped her back out of the box. Once she was out, and Marionette had yet to exit the box, Mike crouched down to below her level and tried his best to soothe her.

"I'm going to drive you home, okay? You're going to be safe," Mike assured as he kept his hands on her shoulders. She looked down at the floor, slowly coming out of her trance, and stayed mostly silent. Once out of the box, Marionette tried to stay face is the most inconsequential way he could. He lowered himself to the ground so that he was standing while not actually putting all his weight on his legs and partially using his levitation to keep himself upright. This way she wouldn't see him hovering, as he feared startling her even more.

Though as Mike stood, Chrissy did turn her body to hug onto Marionette's leg, and clung to him for dear life. Marionette was immediately comforting her again; petting her head and holding her close. As Mike left the Prize Corner, he nearly walked into Fritz.

"Please tell me she's okay," Fritz said. His voice was tense and his face looked framed with dread. As though he was still witnessing the disaster as it was happening. "Where is she?"

"I'm taking her home. She's fine," Mike assured. He then corrected it, "She's never going to sleep again, but she's physically fine."

"That's- That's great. This just-…" Fritz rubbed his face with shaking hands. "What even just happened, Mike? What the hell just happened?"

"I've got a few descriptions of what just happened, but it involves a couple of words that I'm not about to say in front of the girl," Mike pointed out. "I'm dropping her off, I'm coming back, and then we deal with Baby. Just keep Foxy off of her until we get back, because if anyone is going to dismantle her, it's going to be me." He wasn't yelling; he didn't have to when such anger with burning from his tongue.

"That won't be necessary." Marionette sudden appearance interrupted the conversation. "Mike, could you watch Chrissy for a moment? I need to speak with Fritz and then I'll head straight to the car." Mike nodded in agreement and entered the Prize Corner again while Marionette turned to Fritz. His mostly blank tone suddenly grew cold. "I want her gone. I don't care where you take her, I don't need to hear her excuses; she won't be staying here. She can't be trusted around child." Fritz nodded stiffly and Marionette continued.

"You can take her back to Afton's. Honestly, I just don't care where she goes. Dangerous animatronics can't be allowed to get close to children," Marionette remarked with a hand wave. The bitterness was obvious; he didn't want to see her and he didn't want to hear her words. He didn't trust her words any longer. "It's over and done with."

"I'll figure something out," Fritz assured. Then, with that, Marionette was gone. The human gave a tired exhale at the sudden burden that had been dropped onto him. He leaned into the Prize Corner. "He headed towards the car."

"Right, then we're leaving," Mike remarked as he started to lead Chrissy out. He paused in the doorway, considering the situation and Marionette current lack of a full reaction. "There's a chance we won't be back tonight."

"That's probably for the best…" Fritz could still imagine Jeremy in there trying to calm down Foxy's frenzy. "Just take care of the girl. She's most important." He reached down and ruffled Chrissy's hair. The girl said nothing and instead tightened her hand on Mike's. She didn't know Mike nearly as well as Marionette, but he was some form of reassurance. She was soon guided out to the car where Marionette was already waiting, all the while with the other trying to find some semblance of control.

Fritz knew that he would have to get Baby out of the Pizzeria and that the sooner the better. However, he knew she would fight Afton's and the warehouse was unreliable. His options were limited and he needed to find a viable option quickly.

…He needed to make a phone call.

* * *

As Chrissy had predicted, her parents weren't home. There wasn't a car in the driveway and the front door was locked. She unlocked the door with her key and let herself inside before shutting the door behind her.

Mike took a few moments to stare at the house. "I guess she's as safe as she's going to get. That's probably our cue to leave." The Puppet didn't respond. "Mari, I know you're upset, but there's nothing we-…" He sent one look into the vacant backseat and knew Marionette wasn't there. With a tired huff, he leaned back in his seat and somewhat patiently waited, hoping that the Puppet knew what he was doing.

Chrissy only took a few steps inside when Marionette announced his presence. "Chrissy, wait." She responded with a squeak and spun around, startled at his sudden appearance. She hadn't thought that he followed her, but was willing to believe that he had without any odd suspicions. He stood there for a few moments and then slid down to his knees. "I'm so sorry." The words didn't seem to work. They weren't helping as much as he hoped and they didn't relieve the guilt that had settled in his core.

"I shouldn't have left you alone. Not even for a moment… I didn't know she would do something like that. I… It's my fault. I am so, so sorry." Marionette hung his head and stared down at his own hands folded in his lap. It was all he could do to keep the tears at bay. The last thing Chrissy needed was to be spooked by the outpouring of purple from his mask. Yet while she did seem shaken, her reaction to his apology was much less than fearful. She quickly moved forward and hugged onto him again, just as she had before but now level with one another.

"Don't go. Stay with me, please? Until my mom comes home?" There was little reaction to what he said. No blame, no forgiveness, just that one request. She didn't want to be alone and Marionette was more than willing to agree. He nodded with a low chime and she pulled back. "You can come see my bedroom. I've got a lot of dolls," Chrissy innocently suggested. Her childlike eagerness was struggling to fight against the memory of what happened earlier.

As they passed the table in the hall, where a phone was plugged in, Marionette paused. "…Wait just a moment, Chrissy. I want to call Mike and tell him that I'll be staying with you longer, okay?" Chrissy nodded in agreement and fumbled her way into a nearby doorway, waiting for him. He quickly dialed Mike's cell phone number and waited for a response. It didn't take very long.

"Hello?" Mike sounded like Marionette felt. Apparently great minds did think alike enough.

"It's me. I'm staying until Chrissy's parents come home, but if they see you they'll be suspicious. You should head home and I'll be there as soon as I leave here," Marionette quickly accessed, not wanting to pause long enough for Mike to interject. Thankfully, the security guard had few protests with the arrangement.

"Alright. Just be careful." A few moments later and they ended the call. Mike had complete faith that Marionette wouldn't be caught, but now here he was stuck with his own thoughts. He considered returning to the Pizzeria, but feared his own reaction upon seeing Baby again. He could already imagine himself devolving into Foxy. No, he would have to deal with this on his own.

"I knew it!" He brought his fist down on the steering wheel at the outburst. "I knew it, I knew she was going to do this! I knew this was a mistake and I still let it happen!" Mike never believed that Baby was being fully honest, but had cooperated because of everyone else's belief in her. Unfortunately, his stilled tongue had now left them all in a perilous situation. An innocent child could've died today. "He made sure to put it on everyone's blueprints but hers, the son of a bitch!" He tightened his grip on the wheel as he neared home.

"And what now? What are we supposed to do with a seven-foot animatronic that kills people?! Just brush it under the rug- Pull a Fredrick? I'm not that blind! I'm not just going to stand aside and let this happen!" Mike vented to nobody. It was easier to not have to worry about the consequences of what he said. He especially didn't want to do this when Marionette was around to hear it. "And what was I thinking?! What was I thinking, agreeing to it in the first place?!" But he knew what it was. It was guilt and shame.

"Here I am saying I'm not going to stand aside and let this happen, and yet I stood there and let Baby come into the Pizzeria. I didn't believe a word she said; what was I thinking?" Mike exhaled tiredly as he parked in the driveway and leaned back against the seat. He was at fault here and the only one who was probably more at fault would be Baby herself. He drug himself out of the car and let himself inside the empty house. He tossed his keys onto the table and shed his jacket and hat.

Marionette had been so excited to have his sister back in his life and now that couldn't happen. Once again, a family member had let him down. Mike knew that feeling; experience taught him that he could trust blood relations and that apples and trees were better left out of the equation. It made him think about his mother; would she betray him too? Was she lying about straightening her life out?

Suddenly Mike pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed a familiar number. He pressed it to his ear and waited for an answer. Eventually, there was an answer, and he ignored the nagging sensation in his belly. "Hey, I know this is sudden… Could you come by? I think we need to talk."

Why now, of all times? Mike found himself sitting on the front step for nearly thirty minutes, waiting for the car to pull into the drive, asking this very question. Marionette's absence was still worrying him, but not as much as he expected it to. He knew that the Puppet would be fine with Chrissy. He would somehow keep himself together, like he always did, and when he got home he would then let down his guard. All he could do was wait and wonder what vacant spot he was trying to fill by making that call.

He didn't know if he was relieved or filled with terror when the car parked in the driveway. He sluggishly stood as the driver's door opened and revealed his mother. As expected, she already looked like she was about to start crying, and Mike was already borderline regretting making this final leap. He couldn't even understand why he did it. Baby should've been a warning that trust shouldn't be handed out to just everyone, especially those who had been able to cause hurt in the past. Yet here he was.

"Mom, don't cry," he started, only to be stopped by her rushing in and wrapping her arms around him. She was shorter than he remembered and she did still cry, but she was sober and familiar, and for a moment Mike understood why someone could cave in like this. Maybe this was why Marionette had wanted to trust Baby so much; maybe she gave him the same warmth that he felt being in the arms of his mother once again. For all that had happened, he did miss her, and he only realized it when he hugged her back.

The visit felt quicker than it truly was. Mike dropped early that he didn't have too much time, though decided not to go into details, and Isabelle didn't want to push too hard out of the risk of shoving Mike back away. The short time they had somehow manage to be something significant. While keeping details slim, Mike told his mother about the pizzeria, about how he acquired the house, and a relative accessment of his health; basically, he was fine. He decided to leave out the more intrusive details, such as his more recent hospital stay.

Then, seated on the couch in the living room, Isabelle began her own story.

"We searched for you for months. Lisa even went through with filing a missing person's report, but I knew we wouldn't find you. You've always been so clever; if you wanted to disappear, then you could do it… But I knew why you left. I knew you left that night because I wouldn't go to rehab…" Isabelle fiddled with the strap of her purse before opening it and sifting through it. She was already tearing up again. "I was less than a person. I won't defend my decisions, because all I did was waste what I had."

She dabbed at her eyes with the tissue. At least she was more believable than Baby. "I checked myself into rehab and have been sober since. It's not a victory- they would always say that it was a sort of victory, but it wasn't. We lost years that we should've been coping together because of me." Mike didn't know what to say. It seemed appropriate to reassure her, but he didn't know if he was ready to forgive her.

"I don't want to intrude into your life. Especially not considering how well you've done on your own…" Isabelle insisted. "But I've missed you so much. I just want us to try again, so I can be the mother that I should have been." She then fell silent, as though waiting for an answer. The man quickly accessed the possible outcomes as fast as he could.

"Yeah, sure," Mike agreed. It was sort of a reflex in a way, a default answer. "That's would be good. Just trying to start over…" He tried not to think about Baby now. Though he briefly wondered why Marionette was taking so long to get home. "I think I'm ready to do that." He got a smile out of her at least. It made him feel a little better, even if it meant having to open ties to his family yet again.

Isabelle then stood and was escorted out to her car. The woman hugged her son again and seemed half unwilling to release him. "You should come visit. We could get everyone together and have a family dinner, just like we used to," Isabelle suggested.

"Eh, sound's alright," Mike semi-joked. "Maybe you should stop by the Pizzeria one of these days." Immediately he bit down on his tongue and inwardly scolded himself. _"No, great. Bring your estranged Mom to the Pizzeria. She can meet Mari's crazed sister and- Oh geez."_ Because the more obvious concern reared its ugly head as soon as he noticed her beaming face.

"I would love to, and I would love to meet Mari. Please tell him that I came by; I really did hope to see him," Isabelle spoke. Thankfully, this was right before her saying goodbye and getting into her car to leave. Mike wasn't sure what he would do if she had decided to stick around until Marionette returned home. He was lucky that the Puppet hadn't teleported in while she was sitting in the living room. As soon as she drove out of sight, Mike shuffled back to the front door. He felt strange, but it had certainly taken his mind off the earlier disaster.

With a tired exhale, he opened the door and came face to face with Marionette. He held back a choke as he was startled for the first time in a while. Then he continued inside the house, shutting and locking the door behind him. "When did you get home?" Mike asked with a growing heat of embarrassment. He didn't even want to know how much he had seen and hoped he missed the initial mushiness.

"Not very long ago," Marionette answered with his usual smile and a slightly amused tone. "I'm proud of you. I never thought you would actually go through with seeing your mother."

"Yeah, well… I had to, or I risked another pop-in at random. I'd rather do it of my own free will," Mike excused as he moved to the fridge. It was getting later and he needed to find some semblance of dinner. "How was Chrissy? Did you see her folks?"

"She was doing fine; we watched a movie and she showed me her extensive doll collection. I didn't see her parents though. I wanted to, but they had a tantrum-ing toddler with them and I felt it was safer to go out the window as fast as possible." Or in actuality, Marionette wanted to get home as soon as he could. "How are you holding?"

"How am  _I_ holding?" Mike shut the fridge door. "You're the one who went through all of that earlier… How are you holding out?" His voice softened considerably now. "She didn't hurt you, did she?"

"She didn't get the chance. I am perfectly fine," Marionette assured. "I feel no guilt towards anyone except Chrissy, and since she's stable now then we must make do with what we can… I know you probably expected me to be distraught about Baby, I know I probably should be, but I already feel better knowing that she'll be removed from the Pizzeria. It's a weight off my shoulders!" He turned and headed into the living room to turn the TV.

But the thing was that even though Marionette said this with believable confidence, Mike didn't believe a word of it. It didn't make any sense for Marionette to brush off this event so easily. Especially when he already had such a fragile heart; it didn't make sense. For the moment, Mike wouldn't pry but didn't trust it. "If you're sure," he responded with the same degree of concern. Marionette would talk about it when he was ready. The night progressed with no revelations and without the Puppet's behavior significantly changing.

And then Midnight came.

It couldn't have been much later than that when Mike was roused by movements on the other side of the bed. Turning back to look, Mike also noticed a faint humming sound and knew that it was also coming from the Puppet. "Mari?" Marionette shuddered and twisted under the blanket. The humming began to steadily grow louder, along with what sounded like a muffled voice coated in static. Mike suspected it was a nightmare, considering his history, and reached out to lay a hand on his back. The second his hand made content, hell broke loose.

Suddenly the Puppet thrashed, lashing out at anything around him, and then literally dove off the bed and directly onto the floor. The blankets slid after him, stopping halfway off the bed. Mike expected this to wake him, "You okay?" It became apparent very quickly that something was wrong. The humming grew along with a throbbing pulse inside his own head. Mike recognized the headache from the fair, but it was much worse, and it coincided with the strange static and the quieted words.

Black fingers clawed at the wall as Marionette climbed it to full height. His head swiveled around and he stared around the room with pinpricks of light glowing in his eyes. However, there was something odd in his movements, and the shuddering only made it more apparent. Then, hovering quickly, Marionette made a beeline for the closet and began to clutch at the ridges in the door, shaking them as though he expected it to open like a normal door. Eventually through the thrashes he managed to get the door open a crack and proceeded to squeeze himself into the closet.

It was obvious that either Marionette wasn't actually awake or he was extremely confused. Either option was concerning and Mike was out of bed in a second. Before he could get to the closer, the Puppet climbed back out and started to approach the bedroom door. "Mari, wait," Mike attempted to reason with him before blocking the bedroom door. The Puppet brushed past him and headed for the window instead. In the moment that he was in the closer vicinity, Mike could hear the voice more clearly, and it was not Marionette's.

Fortunately, Marionette couldn't figure out how to open the window in his state. He clawed at the lock and he struck at the glass, but he couldn't focus enough to even accomplish opening the window. Then he went entirely still. He straightened his body and let his arms drop to his sides before slowly turning his body to face Mike. The pinpricks of light were aimed on him, but seemed to be looking past at the door he was blocking.

Mike's gave an unfazed look back and braced a hand against the door, "Don't even think about it." Immediately afterwards, the Puppet dove towards him.

While Mike did effectively catch Marionette, he was knocked back off his feet and fell into the corner behind the door. He slid to the floor as Marionette thrashed and tried to slide out of his grasp. The human only held on tighter and as the Puppet reached for the door, he pulled him back tighter. "You're not weaseling out the door! I don't know what's going on, but you're not going out there!" he forewarned him.

For the first time since they woke, the Puppet seemed aware of what was happening, as he suddenly let out a frustrated cry of both chime and static. This was combined with the pulsing in his head that had only grew once they had skin on fabric contact. Heavy and pounding with the quick, shuffling words. A strange voice that kept saying something as Mike tried to hold the crazed animatronic back. It was only when he finally got a good hold on Marionette, wrapping his arms around him and holding him to his chest, that he made out the words.

" **Save them. Save them. Save them."**

Over and over a voice chanted and commanded. Over and over it pulsed from Marionette and into Mike's mind. Feverish, domineering, overtaking everything. Just hearing it was starting to drive Mike towards some sort of brink, but he resisted the urge to loosen his grip and tried to keep the striped being held.

"Marionette, you've got to snap out of this! You have to pull out of this!" Mike was on the verge of begging. Marionette seemed to partially hesitate, but his thrashing still portrayed full confusion, and he was having trouble snapping out of whatever this was. It appeared like a nightmare but it looked like it was some sort of programming. The voice continued to pound and command without any halting, and with every 'Save Them' Mike could feel the pressure increasing. It was worse than any hangover, worse than any blow to the head.

"Who are you supposed to save? Chrissy? You already saved Chrissy! Nobody's in danger!" Mike attempted to bring him out of it. Somehow this must have gotten through, because the voice suddenly halted and along with it went his own migraine. The static slowly died and Marionette's thrashing devolved into limpness. Finally, it was quiet. Mike gave a slow exhale, "Are you okay?"

The Puppet responded with an out of tune chime as he pulled into himself and covered his mask with his hands. Every few moments he would either tremble or have a miniature spasm from earlier. He was either unable to speak or just couldn't muster the nerve to do so, so Mike decided not to pry. He already knew that this was connected to the incident with Baby; it was obviously, really. He gave a tired exhale and shifted against the hard wall, but didn't want to risk moving Marionette just yet. He didn't want to even risk another question.

Instead, he continued to hold Marionette against him and began to softly hum the chords to 'Our Grandfather Clock'. Mike wasn't sure how well it would work, but slowed down and quieted the tune, intending to relax without putting him entirely to sleep. Mike could only imagine Marionette falling asleep and immediately falling into the frenzy again. Thankfully, this didn't happen, and instead the shuddering came to an eventual stop.

Marionette turned to hide his face in Mike's shoulder, "…I'm… I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Mike traced along his back in small circles. Slowly, he could feel the Puppet calm down more and more, breaking further away from whatever that had been.

Wide awake, Mike's mind latched onto the voice he had heard and the commands that had been given. A sense of dread settled in. Not over what Marionette could have done; Mike could've only assumed that he would've continued searching for a person to save who didn't even exist. Instead it was about the programming itself, and whoever the man was who imprinted those commands. Why now? Why such a delay after Baby's attack? It had to involve him falling asleep, but even then, it was a foggy scenario.

Eventually, Marionette did fall asleep again. This time he stayed asleep, tightly clinging to Mike. Mike's discomfort from his position was moderate, but he didn't want to sleep.

He played the role of security guard for the night. He stayed awake and kept an eye out for anything suspicious. It was the least he could do.


	62. Chapter 62

The van ride was quiet and cold.

Fritz had insisted to go alone, which had concerned both Natalie and Jeremy, but they weren't able to talk him out of it. Baby willingly got into the back of the van and waited for wherever they were going. The two of them just waited without words for the eventual destination. Only once they were nearing their destination, Fritz called back to her to bring her to speed.

"This is the only option other than taking you back to Afton's. Until we can find something better-." He cut off to whisper, "Or get a priest in the warehouse…" Then he went back on track, "You'll need to stay here. Probably for a few days at least." His voice grew more firm, or as firm as he could get it considering the situation. "I'm asking you to listen to what you're told and to not cause any trouble. Please, I don't want to have to take you to Afton's."

"I'll be good," Baby promised. Her voice sounded surprisingly meek. "…Where are we going?"

"You're going to be staying in the garage of a friend of mine," Fritz explained as he glanced along the roads. It seemed like there were too many people out, especially considering that it was already evening. "He'll keep an eye on you, so you should be as nice to him as you can. He's the only reason that I'm not forced to take you back." That wasn't entirely true, but he wanted to psyche her out. If she believed that she needed to be good, then perhaps she would treat Scott with some sort of respect.

He backed the van up to the open garage door before climbing out. There was a man standing in the garage waiting; familiar to Fritz and unknown to Baby's brief glimpse.

"Thank you so much for this," Fritz's struggle was evident in his voice. He sounded exhausted as he opened the doors on the back. "I promise, just a few days, until we can get everything straightened out. She's no trouble." The Phone Guy looked tired, with dark rings under his eyes and his hair somewhat askew.

"You're- You're sure she's not aggressive?" He tried to keep his wobbling voice even. "I don't understand. Why couldn't she stay at the Pizzeria?" Unfortunately, the Phone Guy caught onto cues too quickly.

"She's defective, so we can't have her at the Pizzeria," Fritz half lied. "She just can't be in the Pizzeria for now, but she should be completely safe around you. She's been around Jeremy, Mike, and I alone multiple times." This was true enough. The only person she attacked was the girl. While this was terrible, he expected any adult human to be safe in her vicinity. The Phone Guy didn't continue and simply watched.

Baby stepped down the metal ramp and into the garage. It wasn't very impressive; small, mostly concrete, and housing a washer and dryer. It was warm, at least, and it didn't resemble or feel like the icy basement of Afton's. Fritz was quick to close the garage door and block out any possible eyes.

"I don't know how to repay you, Scott, but I'll figure something out," Fritz insisted. He could only hope that Baby went along with staying on her best behavior.

"You could come take a look at the kittens. You, uh, you were thinking of taking one? They're only a week old, so they're not ready, but you could come see them," Scott encouraged. Only a week old and he was already trying to secure homes for every last kitten; typical.

They wandered out of the garage and left Baby alone in the garage. The clown waited where she was left and looked around at what was effectively her temporary room. It wasn't as bad as could've been expected, but it was certainly a cramped space. There wouldn't be much space to move around. She waited expectantly and eventually the two returned.

"I'm up every three hours anyway to bottle feed the kitten, so I'll be awake to check on Baby," Scott could be heard saying outside the door before Fritz stepped in.

"She shouldn't be a hassle. I doubt you'll need to get her a bottle before morning," Fritz playfully joked. He then looked to Baby and his face fell just a bit. He felt like such a liar and it made him feel extremely uncomfortable. However, it was just better if Scott didn't know, less he be afraid of something that wouldn't happen. "Be good, Baby. I'll be back tomorrow and we'll see if we found another place." Then he left and was gone; she heard the van pull away outside.

Scott wasn't like the others. Instead of curiosity, he drew away immediately to somewhere in the house, leaving Baby alone in the garage. After years inside of Afton's, the garage wasn't unpleasant. In fact, she was easily able to spend most of her time in a sort of 'sleep' mode while waiting for Scott's eventual return.

She could hear him talking in the distance. She could hear him moving around the house. When he got close enough, she called his name. It was easy to call without calling; she could raise her volume without changing her tone at all, and hoped that this would keep it from frightening the human. Considering the fact that he proceeded by dropping something that clattered in the other room. For a few seconds, Baby thought that Scott wasn't going to come in, and that she somehow managed to scare him off.

Yet then he appeared at the door and peered inside. However, he did seem wary of her already, so she decided not to press her luck. "Uh… Yeah… Baby?"

"I heard you talking earlier. Who were you talking to?" Baby asked curiously. "Is there someone else in there?"

"I…No. I was just- my job involves making a lot of phone calls. You must have heard me. Or maybe you heard the TV…" Scott seemed much more uncomfortable than any of the other humans. The animatronic found it peculiar, but interesting. The human looked at the blue eyed animatronic; it started back with lightly flexing plates. "Umm… W-Well, I'm going to make dinner."

"What are you making?" Baby broke in quickly before Scott could leave.

"I… Don't know yet," the man admitted with a cough following. Baby was acting fine. If anything, it should've been comforting that she was acting so non-aggressive.

"Why not pizza?" Baby offered. "And ice cream. Or just ice cream. Pizza ice cream?" She was babbling; she didn't want him to leave. "Or butter. I love the feel of butter. It makes everything feel so smooth."

So now Scott was just blatantly staring. He wasn't even certain if he was really seeing this happen. "Uh… Yeah… Yeah, maybe pizza. I have a pizza in the freezer… I'll just go put that in." He went to shut the garage door.

"Don't shut it all the way," Baby insisted. Then her voice dropped just a touch quieter, "I want to hear your voice."

Needless to say, Scott didn't shut the door all the way, but he also didn't return any time soon.

* * *

The beeping of the alarm roused Scott out of a relatively deep sleep. He gave a tired groan and pushed himself to roll over and sit upwards. He slipped on his prosthetic and wandered out into the living room, then into the kitchen. He went through the motions of heating up the formula and prepared the bottle. As he left the kitchen, he sent a glance over at the garage door. He had checked on Baby before he went to bed and the light had been left on. Half-asleep and assuming that Baby was still fine, Scott continued to the master bedroom.

The cat bed was in the corner of the master bedroom and had a towel pinned to the wall and dresser above it, blocking the bed off from direct light. He lifted the smallest kitten into his hand and carried it over to the bed. His Sphynx was already used to it, so she did little more than watch with lidded eyes. Bottle feeding the kitten was normal and it didn't take too long before it had finished the bottle. He then cleaned the kitten and fussed on it a bit more before placing it back with his mother. He had high hopes for the runt; a few more days and it would be in the clear.

Scott then shuffled back into the kitchen to wash out the bottle. Then he started to pass through the living room again, but paused when he noticed something. Suddenly the garage light was off and the cracked door seemed to be closed a little more. Assuming that Baby had done it and not really wanting to confront her, Scott continued to his bedroom and went back to sleep.

* * *

The beeping of the alarm roused Scott of a lighter sleep. He felt groggy, but he knew that he needed to feed the kitten again. He pushed himself to roll over, slipped on his prosthetic, and headed back to the kitchen. He warmed another bottle and shoved a few crackers into his mouth, before following them with a swig of bottled orange juice. He hadn't eaten enough at dinner and, while he didn't want to eat a full meal as it would wake him up, this seemed to be enough to help for the moment. Then he took the bottle and stepped out of the kitchen.

The TV was on. It took him a moment to notice it, but it was on and playing some sort of late night soap opera. He sent a glance to the garage door and it seemed mostly unmoved. That aside, he still was suddenly feeling uneasy, and hurried back to the master bedroom. As before, he bottle fed the kitten, but this time he decided not to return to the kitchen. He simply left it on his bedside table and headed back to sleep.

* * *

Instead of waking to his alarm, Scott woke abruptly to what sounded like a bumping noise from the bathroom. He stared at the door that connected his room to the bathroom. He could already feel the shaking in his hands growing more intense. Slowly, he put his prosthetic on and crossed to the bathroom door, then pressed his ear to the door. He could hear nothing. Opening the door, he could see that the bathroom light was still off, so it didn't appear that anyone had been in it.

It wasn't too unheard of for him to hear noises that weren't there. Especially when he was half between sleep and wakefulness. He gave a slow exhale and shut the door again, then headed out of his room to get the bottle of orange juice. The TV was still on, though he hadn't turned it off, and everything looked untouched. Scott shuffled into the kitchen, got his drink, and then prepared to head back to his room.

…But he lingered outside of the garage door.  _"What if the noise was her?"_ he questioned himself. It was quite possible that she could've either fell or knocked something over. Scott slowly reached out and laid his hand on the doorknob before pushing it open. "Baby?" Dim light fell onto Baby's shiny body and Scott already felt relieved, thinking that Baby was just standing there. He flicked on the garage light.

And stared at Baby's metal husk.

Baby was, for lack of a better term, opened. All her plates were spread enough to reveal what lay under her face and belly, but what lay under these plates was literally nothing. The inside of Baby was completely empty of any sort of material. Even her eyes were missing. She was lacking any sort of endoskeleton at all.

Or, the more likely possibility, the endoskeleton was somewhere else in the house.

Scott's reaction was immediate to this single thought. He started with a few steps back, managing to make his way out of the garage before slamming the door shut behind him. His eyes darted around the living room and what he could see of the kitchen, frantically searching for wherever the endoskeleton crawled off to. It could be anywhere.

His thoughts were stuck between either getting to his phone and calling Fritz or running to his bedroom to barricade himself in, to protect his kittens. Eventually, the phone call started to win out as he took a few bold steps across the living room and towards the office. It was movement by the front door that stopped him in his tracks.

It stood at the front door. The curtained windows let in a slither of morning light, framing the outline of whatever loomed in his home. It was almost as tall as Baby, but it wasn't a normal endoskeleton. Through the darkness and the blurring his eyes, Scott could see twitching, twisted wires around it. The human's vision blurred as it continued to stare back at him.

The next thing Scott knew, he was in his bedroom, barricading the door with one of his nightstands. He was panting and trembling, unable to control the shaking in his hands and trying to fight back the throbbing pain spreading through them. It only took him a moment before he barreled into the bathroom and locked that door as well. For the moment, he was blocked off from whatever it was. He knew it had been too good to be true; he knew that Baby had a catch.

And now he didn't even have either of his phones. There was nothing he could do but wait and hope that it couldn't find a way inside.

He could hear wires scraping over the door.

* * *

Mike expected Marionette to be gone like he usually was in the mornings. Instead, he woke up on the floor, his own arm tucked underneath his head like a pillow, and Marionette laying against him. Memories of the night before came back along with a growing exhaustion. It had to have been six in the morning when he had finally fallen asleep and he doubted that it was more than a few hours later. He stretched his sore muscles and partially turned onto his back, only realizing now how much his neck hurt from the position.

He gave a tired groan and looked over, noticing the Puppet slightly moving, meaning that he was obviously awake. "Doll?" Mike tried, deciding not to say the name 'Baby' again, as though dropping the name risked bringing up the horrors of the day before.

"…Yes?" Marionette quietly responded, perhaps confused at the new nickname.

"Are we going to talk about last night?" Mike inquired. He wanted to know whether or not they would be able to evaluate what happened. That crazed state, that booming voice; Mike had a lot of time to think last night and there were some questions that needed answers.

"I don't know what happened," Marionette obviously lied.

"What does 'save them' mean?" Mike asked before really thinking. "I get what it means, but what's the significance?" He shifted around on the less than plush carpet.

He could hear a slow dragging noise, not noticing that it was Marionette's hand sliding down the carpet. He then started to push his upper body off the floor. His head hung down wearily and he quickly raised his other arm to keep himself upright. He looked weakened; either that, or he still half-asleep, but it seemed more like the former. "Did I say that?"

"Someone did." Marionette seemed to suddenly stiffen at the comment. He couldn't tell if Mike was being serious or sarcastic, but he hoped it was the latter. "Come on, Mari. You know what happened. You knew what was happening after you pulled out of it last night." He reached out with his previously folded arm, which was tingling from its previous cut off circulation, and took ahold of the animatronic's shoulder. The Puppet finally pulled himself upwards, kneeling beside his human companion and peering down at him with a mostly unreadable look.

"…You're right. As usual, you see through my mask. What happened last night happened plenty of times at the Pizzeria… Though never like last night. Maybe I'm just so out of practice..." Marionette fell quiet for a moment, but began speaking before Mike could interrupt to coax further. "Back at the Pizzeria, when children would be killed, I would be the one to 'put them back together'. You know this already; I would assist them into animatronic bodies. It saved my friends, it saved my brother, and it saved me as well… When I am told to 'save someone', it has always involved that."

"But Chrissy didn't die. She wasn't even really injured," Mike pointed out.

"I know…" The Puppet shuddered. "But she was the first one. She was the first one who I could save. I was never there when they were taken. I don't remember that well, but I know that I would've never let him hurt them while I was there… I was always just putting them back together afterwards." He let out an off-tune noise accompanied by what sounded like a sigh. "Chrissy was so close." He hunched over a bit more.

Now Mike started to sit upwards, deciding that laying on the floor wasn't helping and moving to sit back against the wall. "I know… But you saved her. I know you can protect any kids at the Pizzeria. You were just held back before," he insisted. Then he gave a small shrug, "Let's be honest, as long as I paint my face, we can somehow cover up anything you do." The joke received a pitiful chime. He moved his hand back to his shoulder and lightly rubbed at the black fabric. Then he let his sincerity return.

"I know you're upset about what happened. Maybe you don't want to talk about it- Hell, I know that feeling- and I won't make you talk… But a lot of things happened yesterday and I know it's bothering you more than you let on." Mike paused, inhaled, and then lowered his voice further. "Just know that none of it was caused by anything you did. You've done nothing wrong. You've just been trying to give others a chance, and Baby took advantage of that." He had to say her name and set his blame. "…We all thought she was going to change."

Slowly, Marionette started to raise himself back upwards and allowed himself to look towards Mike. He looked saddened, almost expectantly, but it was less expected purple tears that caught Mike off guard. He hadn't even made a single noise, he had given no word to signal it, and Mike tightened his grasp out of reflex. The tears weren't unfamiliar to Mike as he had seen them multiple times before, but it always caught him off guard how he reacted to them. Everything in his chest clenched for a split second, and the guilt intensified.

"I should have seen through her," Marionette spoke. "…But I just wanted my sister back."

"Mari…" Mike lowered his hand to take one of Marionette's. "Mari, please don't cry."

The Puppet raised his free hand in confusion. He briefly touched his face before drawing back his hand and looking at the purple. Mike took his hand before he could make any attempt to wipe the tears away. Marionette head dropped again, him again slouching in shame, though now Mike had a grip on his hands so he couldn't cover his face. He wept, and Mike soon pulled him in to hold him, ignoring the warm paint-like substance that was leaking onto him and if it would stain.

Marionette just released all the pent-up frustration and distress. He cried for Chrissy, he cried for Baby, and he cried for their lost chances. However, the tears dried up quicker than he expected. He felt at ease much quicker, though still lamented what happened. For a moment, he had some semblance of peace, and Mike decided to act on his quietness.

"Here, we're moving to the bed," Mike volunteered as he started trying to hook his arms behind Marionette's back and under his bent legs. "If we're going to deal with emotional turmoil, we're not hanging out on the floor."

"We don't have much time. The Pizzeria-."

"Screw the Pizzeria. Foxy can handle it," Mike quickly excused as he stood and crossed to the bed.

"Oh Foxy, I need to be there for him… He's probably just as upset as I am," Marionette remarked mostly to himself, as though absentmindedly remembering that his brother could also be upset.

"Foxy was ready for heads to roll last night. He'll be fine for a while," Mike insisted. "We'll go in late. Nobody will notice if we're a couple of hours late." As he laid Marionette down, he considered how honest he wanted to be. "…And if I don't get at least two more hours of sleep, I'm going to be partially braindead for the rest of the day. So, I'm hoping my sock monkey's willing to indulge me." Even through the tears, Marionette managed to emanate his delightful warble, and no longer made any effort to protest.

Though he did take control and tugged Mike closer to him. He fought back the worries and substituted them by taking in the human's warmth, his scent, and the sort of reassurance that came from just knowing that, for the moment, they were alive and safe. He entangled his fingers into Mike's dark hair and held him close enough that Mike could feel the purple tears on his own cheek. They were slowing down; no doubt, he would soon stop, and then hopefully not cry for some time. At least a few hours without tears.

As for Mike, his questions briefly faded. He could worry about Baby later. Now he had the enticing warmth and the exhaustion weighing on him. Everything felt just heavy enough that he wanted to give into relaxation. Later he would ask more about the past, the unknown years, the other animatronics, those words pounding in his head…

Then Mike's eyes snapped open. He said nothing, not wanting to upset Marionette any further, and simply processed the sharp realization he just had.

Because as if he had recognized the chanting voice himself, Mike suddenly knew that the voice had to belong to  _Golden Freddy._

Mike held his Puppet tighter.

* * *

The kitten would need another bottle eventually. The cats' limited food would have to be replenished eventually. He himself had to eat eventually. He had to leave this room eventually.

Yet even hours later, as sun poured through the blind and bars and into the bedroom, Scott couldn't will himself to leave the room. He heard the footsteps and wires and knew, without a doubt, that it was still out there. It was still waiting for him to eventually slip up. However, he needed to get to one of his phones. His home phone was in the office and the cell was still charging beside his armchair; both involved him leaving his bedroom. Yet there was no choice.

Scott listened at the door for any sigh of movement outside, but there was none. Then, knowing it would be closer to the office, he decided to slip out through the bathroom door. Thankfully, he was paranoid enough to have a weapon already in his room. Unfortunately, he didn't know if a tire iron would do that much against an animatronic endoskeleton. Clutching it tightly, he unlocked the bathroom door with a shaky grasp and cracked it open.

The endoskeleton couldn't be seen and couldn't be heard. Though the garage door was now halfway open, making him wonder if Baby had returned to her body. Hoping for the best and expecting the worst, he shut the door behind him and followed the wall to the open office door. Right when he was about to push open the door, he heard the familiar side of wires and recoiled. It was in the office. For whatever reason, it had moved into the office, and his paranoid thoughts suggested that it was to somehow block the phone.

His cell phone was his only chance. Scott moved back into the living room, keeping his gaze on the office door, and barely managed to work his hands enough to unplug his phone. Almost the same moment that he got his phone free, he heard the office door start to creak open, and he reacted by hurrying into the kitchen. He could only be relieved that he had laid down rugs on the floor of the kitchen as they quieted his footsteps. Though it wasn't good enough as the kitchen was so small that he would be immediately spotted.

He quickly stepped into the tight pantry and closed the door to a crack. If he closed it all the way he knew he would have to deal with the sound of it clicking, so this seemed to suffice. Then he waited with his back pressed against the shelves behind him. It would've been able to easily see him if it opened the door at all, but thankfully it didn't even step into the kitchen. Instead, he could hear the garage door creep open, close again, and then quietness once more. Eventually Scott dared to push the door open.

He stepped back out into the living room and sent a glance towards the garage door. It could've gone inside and, if it did, the heavy lock on the garage door would help keep it in. Slowly, he pushed the door closed and locked it on the click. He expected to feel some sort of relief at getting the thing captured, but he didn't, and he reacted immediately by hustling across the room to stand near the bedroom door. He shakily dialed Fritz's number and listened to the ringing.

" _Pick up, come on, pick up,"_ he mentally begged as it run again and again, and again, and went to voicemail. "Fritz, I don't- I don't know what you were thinking- the thing you brought over here- you've got to answer your phone, or come back and get the animatronic." He only barely managed to keep his voice quiet. If it knew he was talking about it, it could become much more aggressive. Then the garage door would probably not hold it at bay. He continued trying to call, but couldn't get any word from the technician.

Even though it was pointless, he proceeded to call and leave two more frantic messages, as though Fritz was hearing them but simply ignoring them. Scott doubted this wasn't the case, but somehow believed that if he kept calling Fritz would eventually respond. With the continued lack of a response, he gave a tired huff and headed to the bathroom. He decided to take the moment to get the kitten's bottle and maybe give an early feeding. All he had to do was kill time until Fritz called back.

Or this was what he thought before he opened the bathroom door. Mid-way through the gesture and he was hit with the familiar sound of coiling wires. He choked out a startled gasp and yanked the door back to shut it. A claw of wires- one that only resembled a hand in theory- grabbed onto the doorframe and started to drag it back open. Its strength was unimaginable and lashed out with the tire iron. The first blow fell on the door and dented the wood. His cell phone fell to the floor ignored and he swung again.

This time the tire iron hit the wire hand. The endoskeleton recoiled its hand with a short shriek and Scott slammed the door closed. There wasn't a lock on this side of the door, so he used the moment to his advantage and turned to run for the bedroom door. He couldn't remember the last time he ran so fast; it had to be before his accident. Something about it waiting for him in the bathroom, silently staking him out, provoked a worsening fear.

Forget the phone, forget Fritz, forget any other plans; this thing was going to catch and kill him. Scott slammed into the wooden door and went for the knob. The door didn't budge. In his rush of delusion, he completely forgot that his bedroom door was locked and moved on reflex.

Yet before he could move or run somewhere else, heavy footsteps echoed out and it was behind him. He could hear the metal grinding and shifting together, and felt his breath quicken to hyperventilating. It was so close that he could smell it. It smelled like iron and copper, and cake, and it wouldn't stop twitching and moving. He was about to panic.

"Don't run away." It had Baby's soft, feminine voice, and it was jarring to know that it was coming out of such a disjointed body. "Please… It's me… I'm not going to hurt you. I didn't think you were going to see me like this."

"It's okay, it's okay, just go back to the garage," Scott babbled out, hoping that maybe it would leave. "Just go- it's fine- we just won't talk about it and won't tell Fritz, just go- I need- I've got to be working somewhere-." Any excuse he could get out came out. Any desperate hope that it would turn around and leave; maybe she wouldn't kill him. Maybe the lost endo truly would return to its body. "Just go! I'm fine! It's no problem!" His breathing only grew more erratic as the shaking in his hands got worse, spreading up his arms. He needed his medicine. He needed to escape.

"You can't tell anyone I look like this. If you do, they'll take me away."

"Then just stay in your body. Just go back to your body, please," Scott insisted more firmly. "I-I can forget all of this, you know? I- heh- I know how to keep quiet, I promise." He'd sing like a canary to Fritz as soon as he could, but first he needed to get it away from him.

"That body is broken. It's tight and cold… But I'll go back to my body, if you would do something for me."

"Sure! A-Anything," Scott broke out. He hoped it was something like keeping a secret or keeping music on, or agreeing to talk to it, or something basic that would get it away from him so that he could go slip back into his bedroom and lock the door behind him. He needed a wall in between them and the sooner the better.

"I want you to look at me."

What kind of a trick was this? Scott's throat closed and he had to cough to open it. His hands were now going numb as the shaking started to spread to his upper arms. He didn't want to face this thing. "Uh, sure… why?"

"Because I want you to look at me."

This was some sort of test. Yet it hadn't killed him. Unless it was a reverse Foxy scenario, where it needed him to look at it so that it could attack. At this point it was obvious that it wasn't going to leave, and he decided to not risk testing its patience. He slowly started to turn himself around to face it. His vision was already starting to grow foggy; he wasn't getting enough oxygen, but this was the least of his problems.

He had been wrong, this was not a normal endoskeleton; it was something much worse. Splotches of browning stained some of its wires which continues to lightly sway and twitch around what might have been a frame underneath. It was disturbing, yet his eyes were drawn to its pale, masked face.

An unfamiliar face with familiar blue eyes… And then nothing.


	63. Chapter 63

_Scott never felt safe around the animatronics, so when a golden face was suddenly in front of his when he looked upwards, he couldn't help but jump back. "Gah!" He clutched onto the desk for a moment and stared at the golden rabbit animatronic. Though it was easy to see that it currently wasn't an animatronic, but a suit being toted around._

" _Where in the hell is he?" His voice never rose above the lowest of a whisper, but it was intense. He was furious and, perhaps, for a good reason. Henry had said he was going to get suited and head out to the main room, but had yet to show. In any other case this would've been concerning, but Henry wasn't above getting distracted and pushing off duties for later. He was the master of spontaneous procrastination, even when the restaurant was so dear to him. Now it was Scott dealing with the second, clearly furious owner._

" _I-I don't know? I'm not sure. Maybe-… Maybe his office?" Of course, Scott understood it. Being a single entertainer performing for countless children was rough. Especially when you were playing the less popular character and had to deal with everyone asking where the star was. His boss was fed up and here he was on the prowl for Henry, still fully dressed as Bonnie. "I'll check his office."_

" _And put on your costume. I'll need you out there on the floor." This got a choke out of Scott, but he managed to reach into the desk and pull out a flimsy looking bear mask._

" _Sir, to be entirely honest- I'm still going to do it, I wouldn't say no- but I don't actually think any kids are going to believe this," Scott quietly suggested. Then he fit on the uncomfortable mask and a pair of overly plush, but still unconvincing gloves. Then he stood from the desk and headed back towards the office. The suited man followed along behind him._

" _Mr. Johnson, Sir?" Scott called in with a knock at the door. "Sir, there's uh- there's a lot of kids out here, and Mr. Afton's going to make me put on a suit if you don't come out… Sir?" He turned the knob and peered into the office. It was empty of anyone. "He's not here. Maybe he's getting suited?" Without a word of agreement or disagreement, the suited man turned and started towards the safe room. Unwilling to get stuck tending to the children, Scott followed right behind him._

_The saferoom was fit with double doors so that animatronic entertainers could be moved in and out easily. This was necessary for the golden bear animatronic and suit, as it had a much wider girth than its Bonnie counterpart. Regardless, only one of the doors was opened, and the suited man stepped into the dark room._

" _What did I say about turning off the lights-?" The scolding towards whoever was cut off rather abruptly. In a sudden moment, the suited man stepped on something slick, and Bonnie's feet slipped. Years of wandering around gave them little traction and all it took was fluid and a tiled floor to cause the slip. Somehow, just barely, he was able to grab onto the table beside the door with both arms. Then, halfway suspended, he went entirely still. Scott could only gasped and watched with the same baited breath._

_In retrospect, it was sheer luck that William had been able to stop his fall. It was even more fortunate that the jolt of the action didn't immediately cause the springlocks inside the suit to trigger._

" _Are you okay?!" Scott blurted out. "Here, let me- Can I touch you? Will I set them off?!" He couldn't see any part of man's face, but he knew he was just as stunned. Just from the slow movements and what clearly sounded like him holding his breath. That could've easily ended in death. They had been horribly close to somebody dying._

" _I'm fine," the man eventually spoke. He struggled to push the bulky suit upwards. "Help me up." Scott was behind him in a second, helping leverage him to his feet. "What did I slip on?"_

_Scott looked down at the floor…_

…His head was killing him.

Scott's headache was intense enough to wake him out of what was a dead sleep. Not to mention that something about his body simply felt wrong. Maybe it was the position he was lying in; one of his arms was folded underneath him while the other was dangling off the… Armchair. He was on the chair, not on his bed, and his eyes shot open and he was rewarded with a blur of light. He wasn't used to keeping the overhead light on, but it was the directness that briefly blinded him. He raised a hand to cover his eyes from the onslaught.

It was only once his eyes were covered and that he could think straight that the events of the night before returned. Though the memories ended abruptly; he had remembered feeling very strange, rather lightheaded, and then suddenly losing consciousness. His best guess was that he fainted and somehow was now in his chair. He uncovered his eyes and looked around frantically at the living room. However, he couldn't immediately see the endoskeleton being that had cornered him the night before.

For a split second, he wondered if it had all been a crazy dream. Perhaps it was out of denial, but he realized quickly that it had to of happened. If it was a dream then he would still be in bed, instead of randomly propped in his chair with his body in an awkward position. Scott slowly pushed off of the armchair and almost immediately fell back again.

It had touched his leg. It had to, because his leg wasn't positioned right, and he had wobbled on it immediately. Just knowing that it touched his skin and looked at his scars… It made him feel violated in a strange way. Though not as much as the dream had.

Knowing what he did now about William Afton, it was hard thinking back and remembering their time together. Especially that memory; he couldn't imagine anything worse than walking in to find a body stuck in a suit. Except maybe remembering his accident, or that moment when he realized at the hospital that he lost his leg in the first place. Almost all his memories were tainted by these revelations later on, even Baby's own first impression.

Speaking of which, he needed to check and make sure that it was truly was back in the garage. He fixed himself and headed over to the garage door.  _"Just open it and look inside. It won't be that bad. It can't be that bad."_ Scott cracked open the door and stared into the garage. There was Baby standing in the center of the room with all her panels back in place. As though nothing had happened at all. It was almost worse that way. Part of his mind betrayed him again and wondered if he had a night terror and imagined the entire event.

"You slept a long time."

Baby's voice brought Scott out of his brief reverie. "I… Yeah."

"I was afraid you wouldn't wake up at all," 'Baby' admitted as it turned towards him. Those blue eyes locked onto him and stared him down. "You fell so hard… I know I scared you. That wasn't my intention." The sound of shifting wires could be heard underneath her exterior. He was starting to regret coming in here. "Fritz called to see if you were okay, so I answered for you. I said you were okay, but I didn't say what happened."

"Uh… Thanks?" It had answered and Fritz hadn't been immediately suspicious? That was certainly odd.

"I would prefer if Fritz didn't know. He would want to… See me… Without my body," it quietly explained. "And if he did then he would take me back underground. I don't want to return to that darkness again. It's so cold down there… For now… I am asking you to keep my secret and to refer to me as 'Baby' if he asks… And he will ask."

"S-Sure. Whatever you say." Just go along with it, he told himself, and it would be over soon. He had to move; he had to do something. "I-I need to get in the kitchen and bottle- and feed my kitten." The kitten needed its bottle and he needed an acceptable excuse to get away from the garage.

"Okay." It responded with a simple answer.

"And I… I need- I need to make my calls for work. I'll be in my office …"

"Okay," it answered again. It made no attempt to stop him. He echoed the word and started to step back out when it spoke again. "Will you be done by tonight?"

"I'm… Not sure, why?" Scott haltingly asked.

"Just wondering." It was lying and he knew it. There was something thoughtful in its voice, as though it was planning something.

Scott made sure to lock the garage door behind him.

* * *

Mike felt half dead. It was hard to explain, but everything felt so sluggish and uncomfortable. Which was strange, because he had plenty of nights where he barely slept. Something about last night stood out as particularly tiring. He had gone through the motions, drank coffee, got dressed, drank more coffee, and was still nursing a mug of coffee while driving towards the Pizzeria. In his fogged state, he just gave up on anything fitting travel and just toted another mug around with him, one with a snowman printed on the side. It was all inappropriate.

And Marionette was extremely clingy. It didn't bother Mike, but it did feel weird having the Puppet grab at his sleeve as he drove down the road. Everything had been shaken up by last night, and possibly Baby, if Baby really was the trigger for the frantic spell of 'rescuing'. As he pulled up beside the Freddy van in the back of the restaurant, Mike felt less than hopeful in the day at hand.

"Well, let's get this over with," Mike muttered as he drank more of the mostly cold coffee and opened his driver's door. He then made his way to the unlocked back door, only to suddenly have Marionette appear and open it for him. "Thanks," Mike quickly thanked as he quickly straightened his uniform.

"It comes with the job," Marionette remarked playfully. He obviously wanted to lighten the mood a little bit. "Opening doors is only one of the many important things that I do at Freddy's. You could call me a Jack of all trades." He chimed as the final comment.

"A Jack-in-the-box of all trades, maybe," Mike added in. Then he looked away from his tie and glanced over. "I hope that was intentional, because if it wasn't then you missed out on a great opportunity."

"It was, don't worry," the Puppet chimed back as he watched the guard enter. As soon as Mike stepped into the Pizzeria, Marionette vanished, and he could only suspect that he teleported to the Prize Corner.

Still half-asleep, Mike fumbled his way into the main room, and was immediately confronted by Fritz.

"There you are!... You look terrible," Fritz pointed out, his face scrunching in confusion.

"I didn't sleep more than a couple of hours," Mike admitted. "One hell of a night, but I'll spare you the details."

"And I thank you for that. I think I'd prefer not knowing what happens at your house between Midnight and six." Naturally, there was a very slight smirk, but he seemed too disturbed to truly enjoy his remark. "But we've got bigger problems to deal with. Long story short, Baby's with Phone Guy."

"Why even- Never mind, I don't care." He was too tired to even think of the why behind it. "What's the problem?"

"It's Phone Guy. Something… Weird was going on. He left me a couple of unnerving messages this morning, frantic about something Baby was doing. I called this morning and he sounded fine, but… I don't know. He just said he had a nightmare and freaked out, but something about it is really strange." He sent a glance over at the nearby birthday party before whispering to the security guard. "You don't think this is a Mari situation, do you?"

"Nah, he was with me all night… Oh, wait." He was way too slow today. "I don't know. I don't remember Baby faking voices. Did he sound 'off'?"

"He sounded… Tired, mostly… It's consistent, but it also could be a faked voice. It's really hard to tell," Fritz admitted.

"It's a damn sham you didn't get the voice on tape. Mari would've told you. He's the best at faking voices; he'd be able to tell if it's another fake," Mike pointed out.

"It would've been great if he could've heard it, but he was too busy keeping you awake all night." There was smugness in there somewhere. "I should've headed over there this morning, but I was running late, and after he said it was nothing… I don't know. I'm regretting it now."

"Well, I'm here," Mike pointed out. "You can go drive over there, or we could go together after work. Either way, we'll go see Phone Guy face to face." Then he tiredly rubbed his face. "I'm really wishing that the week was over. I've never felt more like I could sleep through thirty hours."

"Tell me about it," a new voice invaded in. Suddenly there was an older woman standing beside them, looking about as exhausted as Mike and with this largely uncaring look. Mike just stared at her blankly, not reacting right away. "I heard I could get a job here."

"From who?" Fritz inquired in confusion, furrowing his brows. The woman was entirely unfazed by his question. Then again, she had just appeared out of nowhere and walked directly into their conversation. She didn't seem like the type to be effected by something as basic as inquiry. "We have spots, but we don't have a help wanted out…"

"Louise, I'm her mother," the woman replied. "She said there might be a job opening. I've been working over at Barnaby's, but if I don't get further away from my immediate family, it's all going to be over." It was only now that Mike realized he remembered her from the diner. It had been the same woman that he frequently saw passing in and out of the kitchen; a thin woman in her forties with short cut hair and the look of someone who was exhausted with life in general.

"Wait, yeah, I've seen you," Mike agreed. He ran a hand though his hair. "Sorry, rough night. Mike Schmidt." He offered his hand and she took it.

"Rough decade. Tabitha Morris; call me Tabby. No ma'am stuff; I get enough of that at home," the woman quickly introduced. Between her frazzled hair and the continued look of 'I don't care where I am' pasted on her face, Tabby was leaving something of an impression. Nothing like Louise; it was strange how unalike they were. "I worked as a cook at Barnaby's for five years too long."

"We need a cook," Fritz admitted. "As it is now, we're rotating kitchen duty between four people who weren't hired for pizza making skills. However, this isn't a normal restaurant."

"Yeah, I know the drill," Tabby began. Then she dropped a very odd comment, "I worked for a couple of weeks at Hickory Dickory's before they shut down their kitchen." This was a name that had never been dropped by anyone previously. Through his exhausted delirium, Mike latched onto it.

"Hickory Dickory's? What in- is that supposed to be?" Mike asked further. Though he already had a suspicious what it was. " _And thus, returns the Freddy Fazbear knock-offs."_

"It's some sort of arcade play area thing out in Nevada. Out in the middle of the desert- it's like this place. One of those ones with robot animals and food and stuff. Then they scrapped the food and I was back in the family business," Tabby lamented dryly. "Those were the dark days." Mike and Fritz shot looks at each other in questioning.

"Have you heard of Hickory Dickory's?" Mike more mouthed than spoke. Fritz gave a slight shake of the head in response. This got a weary exhale out of Mike. "That's what we need; more competition," he bitterly remarked.

"I wouldn't call Hickory Dickory's competition," Tabby broke in. Almost immediately, Mike's head snapped to her. Something about the shift in tone, from uncaring to something low and suspicious, rang a bit too close to the chime of the old Freddy's. "I don't know anything about the place- except they promised me a job and then never gave it to me- but the place isn't as nice as this. Way bigger, but the robots are a lot more uncanny valley, if you get what I mean."

"Sort of," Fritz agreed. "You wouldn't happen to have any… Paperwork or anything from there?"

"If you're asking for a reference, I didn't even get a decent paycheck, so no," Tabby responded. She seemed to lose interest in the location, not realizing why the two men were truly so interested. "Do I get the job? I'll work dirt cheap and am willing to cook anything. Anything to get out of where I am now."

"We'll think about it. We need to talk it over with the others," Fritz answered. "If you could come back after closing, we'll give you a proper answer."

"I'll just go sit over there until you're ready. I've got nowhere else to be," the woman remarked as she stood, wandered to the furthest table, and slouched down in a chair.

"She's, uh… Not what I was expecting, I'll be honest. Then again, I wasn't expecting anyone to walk over and ask for a job," Fritz admitted. "We need a cook, but it's a risk. Anyone who doesn't know about the animatronic situation is a risk."

"It's not like we have much of a choice in that regard. Besides, I like her," Mike pointed out. "You've got to respect a woman whose pitch for hiring is 'so I don't have to spend time with my family'. That's like the default requirement for working here." Or, at least, it helped to not have a heavily involved family when dealing with possibly aggressive animatronics. Not that Marionette nor Foxy would be threats to someone who was a non-threat. "Doesn't seem like the type that's going to ask questions."

"I hope not, because I'd rather not have to answer any questions that might incriminate us," Fritz pointed out. Then he gave a slow exhale. "Keep an eye out on everything for a minute. I'm going to go check the computer and see if I can find anything on Hickory Dickory's."

"Got it," Mike agreed and Fritz headed towards the office. Even though they had unfinished business, Mike was glad that Fritz was taking the first step to figuring out what this restaurant was. Especially if there was a possibility that it related to Freddy's; considering the connections that had already been made between Freddy's, Chipper's, and Afton's. For now, he had a cooling mug of coffee to tend to and a room filled with children to watch.

Foxy was tending to what may have been the smallest birthday party group they had ever gotten. It was only two boys and one girl, with the birthday boy being a young, glasses wearing child. Amusingly, he reminded Foxy of a small Jeremy with darker hair, and he seemed just shy enough to fit the bill. The captain was always careful to dote on the shy ones and this time he was obligated to do it.

That was, until all three kids scurried away from him and rushed to Marionette, who had gotten ahold of a plate of cupcakes. Foxy mockingly shook his hook, "Yar, ye be stealin' my crew! I oughta make ya scrub the deck!" The Puppet retorted with some sort of sing-song sounding chime. It was a decoy alone to play along; there wasn't words hidden in a higher pitch this time. "How dare ya sass Captain Foxy, ya smiling ladlover!"

That was an accident slip of words, but it got a small choke and an outburst of amused chiming from Marionette. Foxy couldn't even tell whose expense they were laughing at now and covered it quickly. "But can he give ya treasure?" Foxy reached out onto the table for an abandoned basket of tokens, probably left by Marionette. He then knelt and offered them. "First mate Danny gets the first game," Foxy promised and said birthday boy grabbed a handful of tokens. Everything was going great.

"Captain Foxy," one girl asked, "where's Baby?"

It was so sudden that Foxy almost dropped the basket. Even more so considering that it was a child who walked up randomly that asked. The hope was that nobody would ask or even remember to ask, and yet someone had been her yesterday and was now here asking. Foxy looked upwards at Marionette, who stared back with his constant smile. He knew that he was just as shocked about the question. However, Foxy was captain, he was the older brother, and it was his job to concoct a believable answer.

"Baby decided to follow her dream an' join the circus," Foxy lied. "She loved singin' so much that she wanted to open her own circus to do it. So she ain't gonna be here anymore… But she'll come visit ol' Foxy when she wants a taste 'o the pirate life." This second lie was even more of a lie than the first one, but he had a feeling it would buy off the children better. Now they would be satisfied and later they would forget that Baby had ever been there. Thankfully, there hadn't been any merchandise or posters made yet.

"Yar, let's set sails for Sit 'n Survive! One of you rapscallions gonna take on Foxy's challenge?" The kids already forgot about Baby and followed along with the animatronic to the arcade. Marionette stayed behind, keeping his image intact for a few more moments. Then he turned, plainly as day, and took towards the kitchen. He moved fast enough that it raised a red flag to Mike, who had seen everything play out. The Puppet released his strings and quickly slipped into the kitchen.

Mike followed Marionette into the room. "Are you okay?" the question was an immediate response to Marionette's frantic movements. He didn't usually flee into the kitchen of all places and even Natalie, who was cutting a pizza, seemed surprised. As soon as the door shut, Marionette dropped his head into one hand while the other crossed his chest. He hadn't handled the mention of Baby well at all, regardless of how his reaction had looked compared to Foxy's. He had looked fine out there, but it was much different back here.

"I need a moment," Marionette excused in a rather somber and particularly quiet tone. Mike approached and reached to lay his hands on the Puppet's shoulders. He squeezed at the warm fabric.

"Hey, small steps," Mike encouraged in a soothing tone. "It's still sore. It's okay to still hurt." If Marionette tried to say something, it was muffled by out of place chimes- not of amusement, but of despair. Seeing him fading fast and not wanting to have him deteriorate into tears, Mike continued trying to suggest options. "We could just go home. We'd put on a movie, get out a tub of icing, and count today as a loss." He patted his back and hoped that he would take the offer.

"I can't…" Marionette admitted with a sigh. "This is my job. Even if- Even if I cannot get fired, I need to do it. The children need me. Foxy needs me."

"Foxy's just about ready to close too. The only party of the day and there's only three kids. What even-?" It was now that Mike noticed Natalie staring. She wasn't just slightly staring either, but blatantly watching with this unreadable look. He didn't know how to describe it; it wasn't a surprise, but more like a mixture of knowing something and observing it. He didn't even know if it was worth calling it out when the Puppet had become so distraught so quickly. So, instead, Mike angled his head the other way and pretended that Natalie wasn't even there.

"Every day is important," Marionette stubbornly assured. Then he started to calm down, gave a tired exhale, and started to look back. "We should go back to work." This time it was Mike's clinginess that stopped him.

"Come on, Mari, let me take care of you," Mike spoke in a much lower tone to avoid Natalie hearing. Marionette fought back the warble that wanted to form in his chest; this is always what happened to him when Mike played with his voice. "You don't need to put yourself through this."

"As much as I would love that-…" Marionette forced everything to stay normal, even as he laid a hand on Mike's own. "We… have obligations."

"My obligation is to you first and foremost," Mike reassured. "The pizzeria will live." As soon as he finished saying this, the kitchen door swung open. Surprisingly, it was Foxy who stepped into the kitchen, having left the kids. The captain took a moment to take in the scene and noticed the other animatronic was alright, so he covered himself with an excuse

"Just lookin' fer the cake," Foxy excused and looked to Natalie expectantly. She went to collect it and, while they were distracted, Marionette lowered his voice to assure Mike.

"Maybe I'm not holding as well as I thought. I'm willing to compromise by returning to the Prize Corner; it'll be much less stressful if I can let my guard down," Marionette tried to suggest. "But only if you escort me." He offered his hand, unconcerned about the consequences- Foxy would be in here and the children wouldn't care, so it was virtually safe. Mike answered by taking his hand, allowing fabric and flesh to touch once more.

"I'll go out first so you can get 'back on track'," Mike suggested, getting a small chime out of Marionette. This was enough for now. As far as he was concerned, Mike could always replace Baby. They left the room together.

Foxy, turned his head, checked to see that they had left, and looked back to Natalie. He nudged her with his hook. "See? What did I tell ya? That's all the evidence ye need."

"Yeah, that's… That's peculiar," Natalie responded as she topped the cake. She had a feeling that her face was as red as his fur.

The rest of the day shuffled by. Being that they had already came in late, it wasn't as though it felt like a full day. Plenty of children, plenty of pizza, but a thankfully shorter day. Which was perfect considering the situation. Baby had been a massive setback for the animatronics' confidence, but they managed to make due. Which was good, because they all had a decision to make. They met in the kitchen under the guise of cleaning the animatronics and instead spoke on the woman still sitting out in the party room.

"She's an odd one," Fritz admitted. "She hasn't left in like five hours. It's weird that she wants a job that bad… I don't know. I'm starting to think she has ulterior motives." He had seemed a little disturbed ever since he returned from the office. Mike decided to point this out.

"You've just been spending too much time reading about competitive pizza chains," Mike remarked. Though his tone quickly shifted. "Anything on Hickory Dickory's that we should know about?" Confusion passed between Jeremy and Natalie. The animatronics didn't show the confusion, but their silence showed that they were listening.

"What's Hickory Dickory's?" Jeremy dared to ask.

"Hickory Dickory's- Which I found out is actually Hickory, Dickory, and Doc's Funcade- is another animatronic arcade. If what Tabby said is true, they stopped serving food and are now just a large- a very large- arcade and activity center for kids… Which means that it's very strange that we've never seen or heard anything about it until now," the technician explained.

The look on Marionette's face briefly shifted and Mike noticed a briefly thoughtful look passing his face. He was inquisitive, but he continued to say nothing.

"And if we continued what Tabby said, they aren't competition, which could mean anything. Since she mentioned the animatronics directly… I'm guessing that there's a problem with the animatronics. Basically, they're either haunted, they could be Afton's, or they could be like Chipper's." Fritz added with a shrug. "Personally, it's probably not a Chipper situation. I saw some of their pictures and their animatronics look fine."

"You saw them?" Jeremy asked, nervousness returning in his voice. "What were they like? Bears, more bears?"

"Their headlining three are three blind mice ones. They're going with a nursery rhyme theme."

It was at this point that Mike suddenly remembered something that unnerved him direly. He looked amongst the others and considered his options. Normally he would clam up and keep it to himself, he wanted to, but he knew that he couldn't. "It's an Afton situation," he remarked, quieter than he anticipated. Though everyone still looked over to him like he yelled it at the top of his lungs. He glanced over the lot of them before finishing. "I saw mice animatronics when I was looking through the files at Afton's. This can't be a coincidence."

While everyone was a little surprised, only Marionette and Fritz seemed to really understand the gravity of the comment. Marionette's expression betrayed his surprise while Fritz's grimace was perfectly visible.

"I was worried about that… Of  _course_ it's that," Fritz choked out.

It was now that Foxy finally broke in. "I want to see these mice. Competition 'er Afton's 'er not, I need to see what we're lookin' at."

"Which means that we need to deal with Tabby before she starts asking questions," Mike finished with assertion. "Look, I don't know if I can trust anyone, but we need a chef and Tabby's story checks out so far. She's not the type to ask questions, she's not a gossip, and even now she's willing to sit here for hours for virtually no pay. She fits all the criteria."

"But she might find out about Foxy and Marionette. It's not that hard; we're not as careful as we could be," Natalie pointed out. Then she got a playful smile, "One innocent hospital visit later and my view on realty is shaken forever." Then she returned to seriousness, "We should think about whether we should tell her or not." The three humans gave a resounding chorus of versions of 'no'. The animatronics stayed quiet on the matter. "Well, if we do hire her, there's a good chance she'll eventually figure it out."

"Only once we have blackmail material. It makes all the difference," Mike remarked as he started to stand. "So, I'm about to go out there and give her the job. Any protests?" There wasn't any disagreement, though Jeremy looked skeptical and Fritz looked unsure, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've got a good feeling about this, and I only get a good feeling every decade or so. Once she's gone, we'll deal with Hickory's and Phone Guy."

Suddenly Fritz's head snapped upwards. "I forgot all about him. We've got to get over there, uh… Jeremy? Take Foxy to read the Chipper's webpage once Tabby's gone." He then looked to Mike, "I'll come with you. We'll forgo the paperwork and tour for tomorrow, give a quick interview, and head over to Phone Guy's." While he vocally sounded like he had everything together, Fritz looked like he was flustered, and Mike understood why. It was a lot to put with at once; especially the growing issues with the animatronics.

Mike was troubled more by Hickory Dickory's reveal than he was about Tabby or Phone Guy. He was now wishing that he would've paid more attention to the list hidden inside the computer at Afton's. Though he pushed it into the back of his mind long enough to address Tabby.

Most of what Tabby said earlier was repeated, but she did give out more of her past work history. Mostly it was uninteresting; a slew of random restaurants, both fast food and casual dining, and then a long period of being stuck at the diner. Between this and he continued lack of interest in the pizzeria's backstory, she seemed like a good candidate. She simply didn't care if the pizzeria had a past and didn't have much interest in anything beyond the kitchen. They could use this to their advantage. She was sent out with instructions to come back the next morning before opening.

With this over and done with, Mike and Fritz headed towards Phone Guy's home. Neither really wanted to see Baby again so soon, but they had to check in on the man. There were too many uncomfortable questions left after the strange messages. However, they were both slightly surprised and slightly unsurprised when Phone Guy answered the front door.

"Fritz! You came!" the older man blurted out. It was as though he had expected them to eventually come. "And Mike, it's good to see you. You maybe found a place for Baby?" There was a brief flicker of something in his gaze and on his voice. Mike recognized half of it from his training tapes; this was true fear.

"Not yet," Fritz answered as he tried to glance past the ex-night guard. "You wouldn't mind if we came in?"

"Huh? Oh, no, sure. Mike, you could see the kittens. You mentioned you might want them. They're too young right now, but you can get a glimpse of what they look like this young." There came the babbling. Phone Guy shifted out of the way and let them inside the house, which looked relatively normal. Other than the odd behavior, everything seemed relatively fine.

"We just came by to make sure that Baby wasn't wearing you as a suit or something," Mike bluntly stated. Fritz raised a brow at him, but he continued. "Fritz mentioned that you had a rough night last night."

"Y-Yeah, it wasn't what I expected at all," he vaguely explained. "I didn't really sleep… Here, the kittens." As he guided Mike towards his bedroom, Fritz hesitated by the garage door.

"I'm going to check on Baby, alright?" Fritz asked and Phone Guy eagerly nodded. Before he could continue off, Fritz noticed something peculiar. "You locked your garage door?"

"Force of habit," Phone Guy responded rather quickly. Then he continued into the bedroom and guided Mike to the cat bed in the corner. He decided not to crouch down; between his leg and the soreness from last night, it would look much too awkward. "They're all looking for good homes. Uh, except the runt… He's staying with me. I feed him enough; we've bonded."

Mike knelt down and looked at the kittens. They were the strangest blend of kittens that he had ever seen. They didn't necessarily look like Sphinxes or Maine Coons, weren't quite bald but didn't really have fur, though one of the kittens did have a suspiciously large paw. "What do you think?"

"They're something," Mike answered with little description. He wasn't sure what else he could call them. Instead, he turned his attention to Phone Guy, all while watching the kittens. "What really happened last night? Fritz said that you said you had a nightmare?" There was a heavy silence.

"…He said that?" Phone Guy quietly asked. His breath hitched at the thought. "Fritz said that…  _I_ said that?"

"He did. If that's the case, there's nothing to be ashamed of… You probably already know this, but we all get them. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking that I fell asleep at my desk." Mike didn't want to say that, but it slipped out before he could control it. Then again, Phone Guy was the source of many of his nightmares- before he realized that he was alive. "At least if I was sleeping at my desk I'd get paid."

Yet Phone Guy said nothing and when Mike looked back, he could see this strange look on the man's face. He raised a brow in questioning.

"Uh… Yeah… Sorry, I'm out of it after last night," Phone Guy excused without much explaining. "You-uh… You couldn't take in Baby, why?"

"Let's just say that she and Marionette had a falling out, and Marionette's the one that makes my coffee," Mike quipped back. Technically, it wasn't a lie. Shortly after this he stood and soon they headed out into the living room. Both could hear Fritz and Baby's conversation in the other room.

"I know he's scared of me, but I would never, ever hurt him! I promise!" Baby could be heard pleading. "Please, you know that I wouldn't. He's so nice!" A few moments later, Fritz somehow freed himself from the conversation and crossed over to the two of them.

"It's your choice," Fritz directed to the Phone Guy. "We can move her to the warehouse if you'd be more comfortable."

After last night, Scott wanted to say yes. He wanted to get Baby out of his house… But when Fritz said 'warehouse', his mind went straight to Afton's. Baby would get stuck in Afton's and, while everything from the night before was terribly haunting, he didn't want to send her back to that building. He couldn't condemn anyone to live the life that William laid out for them… In the end, it was guilt that made him blind. Maybe, perhaps, she would stay in her body now, and he could just keep the door locked to keep her in the garage.

"…No… No, it's okay. She can stay. Just… Try to figure out a better place for her soon, okay?"

"Will do. It's on the list," Mike agreed. "But in the meantime, ever heard of a place called Hickory Dickory's?" Both other men stared at him with lacking expressions.

"You could've chose a worse time," Fritz flatly scolded the younger man. Seeing Phone Guy's confusion, the technician waved him off. "Don't worry about it. It's not important." They started to head out the front door yet again, preparing to return to the pizzeria. "You're welcome to come back to Foxy's with us, if you want."

"Thanks, but I need to get some work done. I have some calls to make," Phone Guy quietly excused.

"Why am I not surprised that you make a living making phone calls?" Mike asked in a joking manner. It got a light chuckle out of the older male. "We'll figure something out about Baby. Just take care for a couple more days…" He waited until Fritz got into the driver's seat before adding in. "Just keep the door locked and it'll be fine, alright? She'll be fine out in the garage by herself. Just keep her out there."

"That's the plan. Thanks for coming by…" Scott watched them leave and was already regretting his decision. After all, it had become clear on how Baby 'answered' the phone call. He didn't feel safe enough to question Baby; he didn't feel safe enough to do anything beyond locking the garage door again. He didn't want to keep it in the house, but guilt forced him to. After all, Baby was just a child trapped in a suit.

A child who had been killed by the man he had once admired.

If this was what he had to do to make up for that, if his was his sacrifice to fix his inactivity in the past, then so be it. He would just keep the door locked and keep communication minimum. He could deal with it.

" _Scott, I don't want to find you in one of those suits."_

They were both such poor liars.


	64. Chapter 64

"Foxy?"

Foxy raised his head and looked over towards the curtain. Slowly, the curtains were pushed open, revealing Marionette standing on the other side. The captain's ears perked. "Come in, Lad. What's on your mind?" As though he didn't know that it was either the rival arcade or Baby. The Puppet hovered closer before lowering himself into a comfortable kneel and attentively looking up at Foxy.

"A lot of things are on my mind," Marionette admitted as he folded his hands in his lap. "And yours?"

"I'll spare ya my concerns," Foxy remarked. The last thing he wanted was to put his concern on the younger male. Though he was itching to say something, anything, and they had an endless line of topics it seemed. It was a matter of the lesser of three evils. "Whaddya think of the new gal?"

"I didn't see much of her, but she didn't seem threatening. Mothers typically aren't a concern for us… And Mike seems confident in her. I trust Mike; he doesn't see in purple," Marionette pointed out. While Foxy had mixed feelings on Mike, he had to agree that he trusted Mike's intention a bit more than others. More specifically, more than he ever trusted any gold colored bears. "And you?"

"Glad it's a woman, honestly. Might sound weird, but I've never seen a purple woman runnin' around," Foxy remarked. "We'll just keep out of the kitchen during the day. Think we can manage."

"If you don't destroy the kitchen again," Marionette remarked with a chime. Most likely, Jeremy had mentioned that part, as all Foxy had said to him was his awe in how he could still taste. The striped animatronic then decided to change topics. "What do you think about Hickory Dickory Doc's? It's surprising to hear about another animatronic chain. Especially one with animatronics that looked so put together."

Indeed, the closest comparison would've been the toy animatronics. The few animatronics they had seen had that cartoonish bubbly look to them, with a mix of fabric bodies and plastic or latex looking shiny faces. The three mice were uncanny, but more so in how real they looked in comparison to something like Chipper's. That being said, there was no evidence that they were alive, and it was very possible that they were normal animatronics. The only thing that contradicted this was Mike's claim.

"I dunno what I think," Foxy admitted. "Could be nothing, could be something. They certainly don't got a rep like Freddy's."

"That's true… Sometimes I just wonder- I just worry there are more like us out there. We know that he had plenty of time to more around," Marionette remarked. He did seem rather concerned by the situation.

"Can't be. You'd know," Foxy pointed out. Marionette looked upwards at him with a tilt of his head. "You put 'em in. You brought us back. You'd remember bringin' a bunch o' mice back."

"That's true… And I didn't," Marionette murmured. He fiddled his hands together, obviously bothered by something. "…But I don't know what Goldie did without me."

"Goldie only did it once, then he needed you. I don't think he could'a done anything without you… Don't think he would've cared enough." Foxy didn't mean to make comments like this in front of the Puppet, knowing how defensive he would get. To his surprise, the younger's answer was different.

"Honestly, I don't think he cared much about anything other than his own goals. Goldie only wanted more of us because he needed more toy soldiers." Marionette cast his gaze back towards the floor once more. He hated admitting it, but he had to say it. "Goldie kept me in the dark just as much as he kept you and the others… I just didn't know it at the time."

"I'm sorry, Lad," Foxy's ears lowered. "I should've let it drop."

"I brought it up… I needed to," Marionette admitted. A few awkward moments passed before he gave an amused chime. Whether it was forced with arguable, but he managed to get it out. "And now we're dealing with literal bilge rats." It took a moment for it to sink in, but once it did it got a chuckle out of Foxy.

"Ah, we've dealt with rats before. We'll throw 'em to the sharks!" Foxy confidently bolstered. He wasn't worried about competition with how well business had been going.

"They won't even know what's coming," Marionette agreed with a curt nod.

"They don't even serve pizza! What kinda animatronic restaurant doesn't serve pizza an' cake?" It felt so good to not leave an opening to talk about Baby. "We got this, Lad. They be small fish in a barrel; we're a ship at sea. We're goin' places." Letting his confidence take hold, he leaned forward and reached out for the striped male, laying his hand on his head. He always felt this sort of hesitation to touching him, as though he would break him, but Marionette's content smile welcomed the affection.

Unfortunately, this immediately led into a strange silence. Foxy knew this silence. He knew that Marionette was winding up to say something.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable," Marionette defended quietly. "And I don't want to ruin this, because we don't spend enough time just you and I…" Foxy nodded and Marionette laced his fingers together, obviously hesitant. "…But could you tell me about our sister? I can't remember much about her." The way he worded it almost gave the impression that he was ignoring Baby existed at all. Perhaps it was out of denial, but Foxy found that he preferred it this way as well. "We've been through so much…"

"Aye, we have," Foxy agreed as he crossed his arms. He leaned back against the wall and relaxed himself for what was coming. "She was nice. A little spoiled, could be a brat sometimes, but she was a good kid…" His accent started to slip and he allowed himself to relax further out of character. "Da- He really gave her everything she wanted. Maybe 'cause she reminded him of Mom."

"Was she like Mom?" Marionette quietly asked as he moved closer. In a particularly bold move, he rested his head on Foxy's leg. He was particularly needy for affection and the older was surprised by it. He laid his hand on the Puppet's- no. He laid his hand on his brother's back.

"Nah. She was a good kid, but she wasn't like Mom," Foxy assured. "… _You_ were like Mom." This received a soft tune of delight from the Puppet. Foxy chuckled and continued to rub the black fabric. "But we got into trouble. Remember that time I was out trying to live in the backyard? One day I go out there and there's a tent set up. I peek in and there she is, sitting in a tent, coloring in a coloring book. Next thing I know, she's got me making monster noises outside the tent while she's playing real life sit 'n survive-."

Much easier than talking about Baby. Much, much easier.

* * *

Scott didn't expect the sound of a turning doorknob. Immediately he dropped the remote and clutched onto the arms of his chair. It was late, about ten o'clock at night, and it was trying to come in through the garage door. Once it realized the door was locked it took a moment to pause. Then, twenty seconds later, it gave a small knock.

"…Hello?" Scott called over in a barely steady tone.

"Would you let me in?" it asked through the door. "I want to see inside your house again." It sounded so 'innocent' in its wording, but its question had floored the man.

"I… I don't understand, you- are you in your body?" he choked out. He hoped that it was. He truly hoped that it was still hiding inside of the Baby shell, acting like an innocent girl in a suit.

"Not anymore," it responded. "I don't stay in the body at night- not if I can get out. Would you let me out?" There was a wire scraping noise on the wood of the door. "Please? I'll be good."

"I-I can't… You- I can't trust you," Scott admitted. "You lied to Fritz. You pretended to be me. That's-… That's terrifying." He didn't want to express any sort of weakness to this thing, but he did regardless. This managed to quiet it down for a couple of moments. Though it wasn't long before it shifted against the door again.

"I didn't want him to come over and see me," it admitted. "I couldn't fix myself fast enough, if he came over. Please? I promise that I won't hurt you. I'm not like the others. I won't hurt you." The pleading continued mercilessly in that false, feminine voice. That voice that could be a lie in and of itself. First and foremost, Scott wanted answers, so he reluctantly stood and headed to the door.

"Go… Go back against the wall… Don't come any close and… I'll open the door," Scott bartered. He could hear its footsteps and waited until they stopped before opening the door. There, on the far side of the garage, it stood watching him. Again, it was a body of wires wearing a pale mask, and he felt unsafe under its gaze. They stared at each other for a few minutes. Its wires twitched and his hands shook in response. "…Why?"

"…Why what?"

"Why  _this?_ " Scott forced out. "Why are you out of your body? Why is your body like this? I don't understand- endoskeleton- you're supposed to be- and the mask! What is the mask?! You already have a face right there!" He pointed to the body of Baby. "And you  _faked my voice_ to make excuses to Fritz!"

"There's a part inside me that lets me change my voice," the wire animatronic admitted. "I didn't want him coming to see me like this…"

"You didn't answer my question," Scott pointed out. He regained his nerve and managed to hold his ground against this towering…  _thing._ It had to be seven foot tall. If it wasn't as tall as Baby's massive body, then it was close. At least it was slimmer, which made it look slightly smaller. Though this had its own downsides as it could now slip through the door. He wondered if it only left its body to climb through the door. "Why are you out of your body?"

It didn't seem to know how to respond. It spent a long time staring and twitching, concocting some sort of an answer, and even second made Scott even more wary. "I don't like it," it admitted finally. "I don't want to stay in that body when I don't have to." Something about the way it said this, so easily, made it all more uncomfortable. "It… Doesn't feel like my body." It reached upwards and fussed with some of the wires on its chest, which he only now noticed were shaped like a bow. It tugged at them like tightening a bow.

That would've been a cute gesture if literally anything else had done it. It was too tall and too strange looking. "Please let me in? I'm safe."

"I can't," Scott insisted. "You're-… I can't."

"But  _why_   _not_?" It must have noticed its mistake before Scott even could. That slight exasperation, that slight desperation, slipped out with a tensing of its voice. Right afterwards its voice dropped back to the soothing sweetness of an innocent girl. "Wait, no-."

"I can't," Scott got out as he stepped backwards though the door again. All it took was that one moment of frustration and his nerve dropped out of existence. "I'm sorry." Then he shut the door and fumbled with the lock. Now with the door secure and it blocked out in the garage, the man was now left with his thoughts. Left with all the cold, heavy thoughts. It was nighttime; he couldn't work, he couldn't go anywhere, and he was trapped with nothing to distract him from these thoughts.

It didn't help that the animatronic refused to stay silent.

Eventually he could hear it trying the doorknob. They both knew that it could break through the flimsy knob, yet it didn't do so, and it instead called to him, and it pleaded, and he was slowly being broken down.

"Please, let me out."

"I just want to see what's out there."

"I won't touch anything. I won't hurt you."

"I don't want to be in this room anymore."

"I'm tired of being hidden away."

And it was becoming more relentless. Eventually, Scott had to escape to his bedroom just to ignore the calls. Indeed, as he shut the bedroom door, and locked it, he couldn't hear any more of the words. That didn't mean that he could escape himself.

What had Afton done to this thing? Or better still, why did he build it- if he did build it. He couldn't even say for sure if it was still Baby; it had the voice, but everything else was foreign. This was a monster; a broken, corrupted bundle of wires that formed a mass that tried to look like a normal animatronic. That lied about being the innocent 'Baby'. Then there was Baby itself; a passion project that failed right around the time that his daughter had gone 'missing'.

" _Unless- No. He- He couldn't have. Not to her."_

Scott knew better than to pity it, but he couldn't help it. Nobody deserved what Afton could do. He was brutal and he had little empathy for anyone other than himself. He could treat someone like he loved them, but then throw them away at the drop of a hat. Or worse, as Scott had learned. William Afton had a hidden side to him and if he wanted someone gone then they would suddenly have an 'accident'. Sometimes, he wondered about Henry's death.

Recently, he started wondering about his sons' deaths. Right now, he was questioning his daughter's 'disappearance'. People didn't just 'disappear' around William.

…And Scott knew that William didn't treat the animatronics well. Long ago, he used to think that it was solely a reaction from the animatronics' aggression. He knew about his youngest and the bite, so it made sense that William would hold a grudge against the machines. Scott eventually concluded that the animatronics were haunted; it wasn't surprising in hindsight, as everyone eventually realized it for themselves. William had to know it as well. Perhaps this was even the reason he despised the animatronics so much, hating that they were walking evidence.

He couldn't imagine what William would've done to animatronics being kept at his private building. He could've experimented on them, he could've tortured them. What was worse was that Scott knew that he would. William would've only been inspired if he realized that they could feel what he was doing. He loved to hurt those that he had control over.

Look at where working with William had gotten him in the end. The scars on the outside were nothing compared to the effects that had been done on the inside. His shaking wasn't just from nerves anymore.

…He couldn't stay awake for this. He didn't even want to think of the man any longer. Instead, he had to make a choice.

Scott got everything in order, fed the kitten, and then proceeded to stand outside the garage door yet again. Clutching his robe to him, he spoke through the door. "It's me again." His voice was shaky. He could hear movement low on the other side of the door. As though the animatronic was sitting on the floor. "Just a few things. First…Did… Did you still want me to call you Baby?" It took a few moments for a response. His breathing was labored and he tried to suppress the shudders that threatened to irritate his shot nerves even more.

"No," it answered. Same voice, lower volume. "…I want to be called Ennard. That's what I was named."

"Okay," Scott stretched out. He wished that he wouldn't have asked. "What would you do if you were out here?"

"…I don't know," Ennard admitted. It shifted against the door and turned to face it, probably pressing its face into the wood. "But there's nothing to do in here."

"Right…" The man brushed his fingers over the brass lock of the door. "So, uh, I'm going to bed now and I… Here, let me-," he unlocked the door, "-get that for you."

He could hear the thing, Ennard, straighten against the door. Perhaps out of surprise.

"I-I'm going to bed and I'm locking my door. You can just do whatever… Just don't call anyone. Or leave the house." With that, he turned and hurried away from the garage the door. Thankfully, it didn't come out until he was inside his bedroom with the door locked behind him.

This was a mistake and he knew it. He just needed the relief from the nagging guilt. He just wanted to know that he could do something to spite Afton one last time.

It was a victim, not a monster; just like he was. Scott kept telling himself this as he struggled to get any form of sleep.

* * *

The day after her arrival, Tabby had come in to work.

It became apparent rather quickly that the choice in hiring her was a good one. She worked quickly, she managed the entire kitchen without requesting help- in fact, she had turned down an offer from Jeremy to pitch in- and she didn't seem to notice Foxy and Marionette's peculiar behaviors. She tuned it all out and focused solely on doing her job. By closing time, she cleaned up the kitchen and left before the others did, leaving them to the party room and everything else.

She actually was moderately friendly while working. While she still had that air of 'eh' around her, she did manage to smile once or twice. By her third day working at the Pizzeria, Tabby was even so bold as to start suggesting menu changes. Being that all three of the human co-owners were rather inexperienced in the cooking portion of the restaurant, they agreed, and Natalie took some time out of her schedule to offer suggestions in comparison to what she had seen while briefly working in the field.

All in all, it was going rather well. Being that Baby had only been there for a day, there was no immediate financial loss and hadn't been more questions about where she had gone. Phone Guy kept in contact with Fritz and, from what Mike knew, Baby was fine with him for the time. This gave them longer to figure out where to put her. This also gave them a cushion of time for other things.

Specifically, Mike's incoming birthday, which had become the topic of conversation for everyone other than Mike himself.

Before this year, Mike's birthday usually involved one of two things. Either he would entirely ignore it and would be older the next day, or he would by a small cake and eat it while watching whatever awful late-night show was on TV. Sometimes he even skipped work on this day. Yet he didn't exclusively celebrate it and, as such, Marionette was now showing quite an interest. It made sense being that birthday parties were his job, and Mike was passively willing to do whatever the Puppet wanted just so that he could, again, sail through the day.

It was an evening after a long workday and the coming day was off in the back of Mike's mind. He had more important things to concern himself with. With Marionette curled on the couch underneath the lamp reading, Mike had the urge to scoop him into his lap and steal his attention. Before he even got the chance, his phone rang.

" _That's going to be about Phone Guy. He's going to actually be dead this time,"_ Mike predicted as he took his cell phone from the coffee table and answered. "Hello?"

"Michael, hello! I'm glad I got ahold of you." The sweetly voice was his mother's and she sounded remarkably excited. "How was your day? How's Mari?"

"Long, tiring, and wearing me thin… My day was fine too." This received a nudge in the thigh from a striped leg. At least Mike knew now that Marionette was actively listening in. "What about you, Mom?"

"I'm fine. In fact, I was wondering if you would like to come visit next weekend." Of course, this would be the weekend that his birthday fell on. "Everyone would love to see you! We'll all get together and have a sort of family reunion. A big dinner and a little get together; what do you think? And, of course, Mari would be welcome to come." Unfortunately, she had no idea what she would've been agreeing to home.

"I don't know, I'm going to be working all week…" Mike began as he leaned back against the coach. "I'll have to be back on Sunday. That's a long drive for what's basically one day." Being that Sunday was his birthday also would make this complicated. She would want him to stay and celebrate when he already had unknown plans for the day.

"Well, you think about it. I would love to see you- we all would," Isabelle insisted. The conversation then switched to the basic fare. She asked questions, he answered, they chatted without any sort of aim, and it ended on relatively fine terms. Though Mike was attempting to get off the phone as quickly as possible. As glad as he was that his mother changed and was willing to be a family again, he had other things on his mind. Him having to visit estranged family members for his birthday was low on his list.

Once the call was ended, he decided to voice this. "That was Mom asking me about going and visiting, but you probably already know that," Mike remarked, a more playful tone at the end. "I wouldn't be surprised if you tapped my phone one of these days."

"I don't have to when you're sitting a foot away," Marionette answered. Something was very distant about his own voice. "Are you planning on going?"

"I don't know. There's nothing really to go back for. Mom's willing to drive here and nobody else, other than Lisa, has even tried calling me." He set the phone back down on the coffee table. "Is there a point in going?"

"There is if you want to go," the other insisted. He turned away from the lamp to face him. He looked surprisingly placid and his voice continued to sound a bit odd. It was almost vacant. "Do you want to go?"

"I'd have a better time staying here with you," Mike assured. Yet that question lingered there. The Puppet wanted an actual answer and Mike wasn't sure what that answer was. He hadn't seen these people in years and, even then, he wasn't that close with his family members. As they had distanced themselves from his mother during her 'depression', so had they distanced themselves from her son.

…And yet wouldn't it be  _great_ to show them how he had turned out. They had always pitied him for what happened to his parents, yet stood by idly and watched the disaster unfold. He couldn't help but think of how nice it would be to show up to a family reunion and tote that he owned a business. Even if he was only a co-owner, it was something to be proud of. Not only was it one of the only successful animatronic restaurants in the surrounding states- if Chipper's and Hickory Dickory's were any examples- but it was doing excellent in its first year of business.

He might have been a teenage runaway, but he had made something of himself. He passed tests that normal humans would die from, he survived feverish nights in a cage of an office, and he had more than enough to show for it. Perhaps it was worth going through the excess just to get that form of closure.

"…I don't know," Mike admitted. "What do you think? Is it worth it?"

"It probably would be. You haven't seen them in so long." Still, no change in his voice.

"Maybe I'll go. If I go now then I won't have to agree to Thanksgiving. I can avoid that mistake before I make it," Mike remarked as he considered it further. Then, finally, he went through with making his agreement. "Alright, sure, why the hell not? I don't get every day to guilt family members into free advertising. I'll take some merchandise and make an evening out of it."

"Then that makes it worth it." Marionette finally smiled, but it was his default smile. It was a fake smile and Mike knew it. He knew how much Marionette wanted him here and wanted to celebrate his birthday with him. All of his planning would suddenly be halted. Or at least, shifted until the next day. "Your mother will be very happy to have you!" He must have known that Mike noticed his faked behavior; he started forcing an upbeat tone to overcompensate. "You'll have to bring me back pictures!"

"I'm only going to be gone one night. I might not get enough time to take pictures," Mike pointed out. If anything, he wanted to assure the Puppet that it wouldn't be very long. He couldn't remember the last night that he had stayed out all night… In fact, he couldn't remember if he had since he moved in. It had to be before Marionette and he became this close. "You'll be fine without me?"

"I think I can manage one night," Marionette quipped back. Now there was real amusement, even if he was clearly covering some sort of disappointment. Setting his book aside, he slipped closer and clung to his human companion with all the neediness that he wouldn't admit to. "I'm not taking away you chance to have normal experiences. It's not fair to do that, and it's not fair for you to do that to yourself."

"That means I can't back out now that I've shown interest, doesn't it?" Mike asked as he brought the animatronic closer; perfectly fine with the clingy behavior. If only he could show him off. There would be a group of boring couples, standard couples, broken up by him bringing his one-of-a-kind puppet to show off. In a perfect world, he would be able to blackmail everyone into silence. "You're a tricky one, but I know how to pull your strings…" Then he pulled back, "Ghosts and Goblins?"

Nothing like a frustrating video game to numb away a couple of hours.

Mike didn't call his mother back that night. It seemed like something that could wait until morning, so the rest of the night went on relatively normal. Except that Marionette was, expectedly, a bit more focused on him. Mike expected this much and it continued through the following days. What he didn't expect was his growing anxiety that came after he called his mother and agreed to come. Every day the weight was just a little heavier and he considered backing out. He had the means to do so, he could've called her at any time, but he didn't.

Instead, Mike went through it like he did most things; by distracting himself with work. When he was at the Pizzeria he would take over the menial tasks that Jeremy would usually get to. Another attempt was made with Fritz at the warehouse. Though its fate as Baby's new home was obvious when they stepped inside; when they stepped from summery warmth into icy winter. After watching Fritz exhale a puff of smoke, Mike bluntly looked at him and gave a quick, "Let's get out of here." They hadn't gone back. Baby would need to wait.

At home, Mike continued his obsession with fixing the house for him being gone. One of the things he finally decided to do was get the house phone turned back on. It would be another bill, but he didn't like the idea of having Marionette at home without a means of communication. With the phone still being hooked up, this was relatively easy. He also then proceeded to write down every phone number that he could think of. Halfway through this process, he started to realize that he was acting like his mother. Or like she used to back before his father's passing.

As for Marionette, Mike could see that he was hiding his feelings towards the situation. His continuous remarks and questions about birthdays made it clear that he was still intending on planning something, even if he no longer had the morning. Unlike Mike, the night alone didn't seem to concern him, but the day following it did.

Then the morning came when Mike was due to leave. A rather miniscule deal to the Pizzeria, as it was a Saturday, but a seemingly massive change to the routine. Yet if Mike was being honest, the tightness in his stomach was not anxiety from leaving, but anxiety for what was to come. He went through the motions in getting dressed in a casual outfit, along with his watch. It would just be too weird to walk in dressed as a security guard, let alone a bright purple one. To remedy his lack of an identity he considered taking his badge, and eventually tossed it into his sparsely packed suitcase.

With exhaustion that could only come before an impending drive, he left the bedroom and headed to the front. Mike could tell the exact moment when Marionette appeared from his own room and started following him down the hall.

"I'll call you when I get there. If you don't hear from me for a few hours then I'm either in a ditch, or I chickened out at the last minute and am hiding in a dumpster somewhere," Mike spoke back as he went to grab his cell and keys. "I'd like to keep this quiet, so if Fritz or Jeremy calls then tell them I took the money and went to Vegas." He was now ready to leave, but due to Marionette's continued silence, he decided instead to take an extra moment. He looked over towards the animatronic, "Sure you're okay with this?"

The pause between him asking this and Marionette responding was at least five seconds too long. "Of course I am!" Marionette finally answered. "It's a shame that we don't get to spend all of your birthday together, or tonight, but I'm glad that you are getting to reconnect with your family."

"Just making sure. You've been quieter than usual," Mike pointed out.

"Really? I didn't even notice." Now there was the evidence he was lying. That was completely and utterly a 'cover up' comment. It seemed better just to brush it off than ask further.

"Then off I go," Mike announced in a faux dramatic fashion. Yet as he took another step towards the door, Marionette gave an almost desperate continuation.

"Make sure not to do that thing where you cringe when people sing 'Happy Birthday'," he forewarned. "The children don't care, but your mother might get the wrong idea."

"No promises. It's my birthday, I'll cringe if I want to," Mike smirked in response. "Just as long as I don't have to listen to Foxy's pirate rendition, I think I'm good." Then his smirk dropped into a smile. "Just a shame that I can't take you with me."

"As much as I would love to, I don't think we should risk it…" Indeed, it sounded like it physically hurt to say this. "But I will be waiting here for when you get back. Whether it be Sunday or later."

"What does that mean?" Mike latched on with a raise of his brow. He turned back towards the Puppet, who became defensive.

"I just meant that if you decide to stay later then I won't get in your way. I don't want to get in between you and your family." Now it was Mike who was staring. For a few moments, he contemplated the best way to say what he was going to. Then he just came out and said whatever came first.

"You're already being supportive. You don't have to be a martyr." Bluntness won out. Almost immediately, Marionette caved and finally, finally, it seemed like he had an honest smile. Even if it was only a slight one.

"Then be home on Sunday and I'll have something waiting for you," Marionette tempted. It would probably be cake, but it still seemed like a nice temptation. The Puppet slipped forwards and wrapped his arms around his companion, who returned the gesture after setting down his suitcase. "I'll miss you."

"I will," Mike assured. After briefly taking his lips, he gave him one last assurance, "I'll be safe. Take care of yourself while I'm gone."

Right before he was out the door, Marionette got out the final words that would be exchanged. "I love you, Mike." He smiled at the human as he closed the door and continued to his car.

It was every bit of power he had holding him back from immediately teleporting into Mike's car. He couldn't go, he knew this, and yet the separation anxiety was already setting in. Then the car pulled out and drove away, leaving Marionette alone in the house. The further the car got away, the less chance he had of catching up, and he stood there beside the front door until he knew Mike was too far gone to him to follow.

Attempting to recover, Marionette forced himself away from the door, headed to his bedroom, and climbed inside of his box. He needed the comfort that only a tight space filled with plush toys could provide. If he could just get through the first couple of hours without a hitch then he would be fine. At least he wouldn't be alone for days waiting for someone who would never come home.

In the meantime, he needed to rest while he could; he had a party to plan.


	65. Chapter 65

This was it. After a tedious drive- mostly tedious because he had forgotten some of the directions- here he was parked outside of the house. The driveway was just long enough to be packed with cars, but he doubted they were here for him. His mother had once been the socialite of the family, putting together holiday events and gatherings throughout the year. Perhaps she regained her status while getting her life together. That was both a nice and a terrifying thought all at once; he didn't really want weekly invitations.

He had to park partially on the road and could only assume that he would come back and find a ticket stuck on his car. At this point, he could care less. If all went well, his generous family would offer to pay for it. He didn't expect it to go anywhere near that well. Best case scenario would be him not feeling entirely alien in his old home. Mike stalled for a few more moments; just long enough to get himself fully worked up. Then he approached the front door, then stalled longer as he didn't know whether to knock or just walk in, and was only relieved of this awkward position when the door eventually opened.

Thankfully, it was Aunt Lisa; someone who he had seen recently and knew that she wouldn't be rough with opinions. Or, at least, she knew well enough that he would split if everything got too uncomfortable. Either way, she was nearly beaming when she saw him.

"Looks like I won a bet," she remarked almost playfully. She wasn't the playful type, but this was a special occasion. "I'm glad to see you, Mike."

"Same, Aunt Lisa," Mike agreed with a small smile. "Everyone already inside?"

"They are. You're at least an hour later than expected. I'm hoping you'll make up for it," Lisa teased playfully.

"I brought merchandise, so that's close enough," Mike smirked as he slipped his hands into his pockets. "Where are the kids, by the way? I brought them a couple of plush dolls." His young cousins had gotten older while Mike was gone. In this time, he had become a stranger to most of them, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to win their favor. Working at the pizzeria proved that the scorn of children could be remedied much quicker than the scorn of adults. Children could be bought off; adults would remember.

Part of Mike had a bad feeling that everyone inside would remember too much. Even if he wasn't in the wrong, even if he didn't want to be the victim, they would see him as the teenager that left home. He would have to prove that wrong as quickly as possible.

"They're out back. Just don't hide back there for too long; your mom is expecting to see you in the next couple of hours." Apparently, she too knew how willing Mike was to dodge everyone. He just wasn't ready to stride into the house and put on a bright face. If he was being honest, he didn't know if he could even do that. So, while Lisa stepped back inside, Mike went along with his plans to buy off the children.

Only one of his cousins recognized him as, out of the three, he was the only one old enough to. Thankfully, none of them seemed to know about anything that transpired before. It made sense; there was no logical reason that any parent would risk telling too much, or they would risk getting asked questions. The Schmidt family didn't do well with hard questions.

Then again, the Afton family didn't do much better.

It was hard not to think of Marionette while he was handing out merchandise as gifts. He did briefly wonder how he was holding up. He nearly called him, as he had agreed to do, but was interrupted just a few moments before he was finished with his cousins.

"What did I tell you about taking toys from strangers?" He recognized that voice. Mike couldn't help but smile more honestly as he turned back towards his uncle. Patrick was his father's brother and they had dropped out of touch after his father had passed. What Mike had heard, he had gone on a sort of 'finding himself' quest which had involved an excessive amount of travel. Patrick wouldn't judge him; he knew what it was like to need to leave.

"There's only one stranger here and it's not me," Mike pointed out matter-of-factly as he turned back towards the older man. "How've you been?"

"Don't be so formal," the blonde man gave a slight smirk and put an arm around his nephew. Mike had forgotten how much he looked like his father, though he had a suspicion that Patrick was dying his hair lighter. "Where have you been hiding?"

"I made a break for Vegas, but I didn't make it and got stuck down south," Mike remarked with an amused glint. At least Patrick would understand his sense of humor. "Just buying off the kids while I still can."

"How about buying off Izzy? She's going to get offended if you keep dodging her," Patrick remarked as he started to steer the younger inside. Mike gave an inward groan at being manhandled into going inside. His mother was fine, but he knew his mother; she would be stuck in the kitchen and he would be stuck socializing with family. Patrick looked down at the fox plush, "I thought you were more of a wolf person."

"Nah, pirate fox all the way," Mike quipped. "Mom didn't mention that I co-owned a pizzeria?"

"She did, actually, but I didn't think of you as the type to bring work home." Patrick took the plush into his own hand and studied over it. He furrowed his brows, but said nothing more about the plush. Mike stepped through the back door and into the house, heading towards the kitchen.

The scent of baking chicken was overwhelming and the sheer temperature in the kitchen was harsh. Isabelle noticed him entering before he could even say a thing to announce his presence. Thankfully, she didn't start crying immediately. He gave a mix of a shrug and spreading his arms in a dramatic 'ta da' gesture, but she took it slightly wrong and rushed in to hug him.

"I almost thought you weren't coming!" Isabelle admitted as she held him tightly. "I tried calling you, but you didn't answer."

"It was a long drive and I just kept my phone off," Mike admitted. This was the truth, though now it dawned on him that Marionette wouldn't have been able to call him. As soon as they were apart, he pulled out his phone to turn it back on. "Is that lunch or dinner?"

"Lunch, but it's not ready just yet." Naturally. "Do you have your bag? I didn't change your room at all, so you have a place to put your things," she suggested. Perhaps she was under the impression that more nights could be whittled out of him. However, Mike didn't necessarily want to deal with that flood of memories yet.

"I'll get it out of the car later. First thing's first, where do you need me?" Mike offered his help.  _"Desperate times call for desperate measures_ ," and if it was between working in the kitchen and spending quality time with relatives, he would prefer the work any day.

"No, no, please. It's your birthday, Mikey! Or tomorrow is, but still, you shouldn't have to work," Isabelle insisted with a warm smile. "Isaac and Grace are out in the living room with Lisa. Go say hi. Go on." Just as quickly as she welcomed him in for a hug, Isabelle had almost entirely kicked Mike out of the kitchen. It didn't help that he lost Patrick somewhere in the kitchen, with resulted in him alone approaching the living room. At least Lisa was still in the room, as his mother had predicted.

Unlike the children, who he barely recognized over the years, he recognized each of his family members accordingly. Sitting alongside Lisa on the couch was Uncle Bryce, her husband. A short word about Bryce was that he had been the black sheep before Mike had become one. Nobody respected Bryce- Mike was largely indifferent- and there were quiet whispers about how Lisa could do better. Lisa was constantly working to move further along the corporate ladder while Bryce spent most of his time unemployed, and seldom looked for a job.

On a personality basis, Bryce was largely quiet. He had little interest in communicating with or making a relationship with Mike, so Mike largely avoided Bryce in return. It was mostly apathy. Isaac was the brother to Isabelle and Lisa, making him, like Patrick, related to Mike directly. In short, he was the protective big brother, but like with Bryce, Mike wasn't exactly close with this uncle. After his mother had fallen to her vices, Isaac had almost seamlessly disappeared out of the picture. Though he had been present at the intervention.

Aunt Grace was Isaac's wife. She was a pleasant woman, though sometimes came off as patronizing or condescending. He truly could never tell whether this was an accident or intentional. At least she smiled when he entered the room.

"There you are! Lisa said that you came in twenty minutes ago. I was worried that you got away from us again!" Grace exclaimed as she stood and pulled Mike into a brief hug. Not nearly as tight as his mother's, thankfully, because they had never been especially close. He briefly returned the gesture with a pat on the back and then pulled away as quickly as possible. All this physical interaction couldn't be good for his health.

"It's nice to see you Aunt Grace," Mike greeted and decided to fully ignore the earlier comment. "How's it been?"

"Wonderful! We were actually just talking about you." Grace sat back down on the couch while Mike took the second armchair. Isaac was staring from the other one with this look of discontent; just as he remembered. Thankfully, Grace began to chatter on about some sort of conversation that had little importance. Mike mostly tuned it out after a few minutes and then kept his eyes angled towards the clock over the back of the loveseat. Lunch couldn't take that long… Then he only had nine or ten more hours to kill.

"-And considering everything, a job in fast food isn't to be ashamed of!"

" _Whose job in fast food? What?"_ Mike furrowed his brow as he looked down from the clock. Grace was looking to him again.  _"Oh, of course, my job in fast food,"_ he thought as he tried to not look as indifferent as he felt. He supposed that he should've felt insulted, but again, he couldn't tell if this was Grace being passively snide or completely oblivious to the situation. "It's not fast food, it's an animatronic pizzeria."

"What I mean is, you found a job and are taking care of yourself," Grace assured with a smile. Suddenly Mike's indifference declined straight into a form of offense. He considered responding, but then remembered that he had an excuse to leave the room.

"Yeah, it's great. I'll be right back. I need to make a call." With that, Mike stood and got out of the room as quickly as possible. Thankfully, Grace has started a conversation with Lisa about whether pizza was fast food, so they were distracted enough to let him go.

Once in the hallway and out of earshot of the others, he called home. He waited through a ring, then a second, then a third, and listened in confusion as nobody answered. Assuming that he simply couldn't reach the phone in time, maybe he had his hands in a bowl of dough or something, he called once again. Again, nobody answered the phone. By now Mike was at least moderately confused, though not yet ready to panic. Unfortunately, this did mean that he had to return to the living room.

He settled back into the other armchair. "Just checking in on everything. What were we talking about?"

"We're pretty certain that pizza is fast food only if it goes through a drive-through," Lisa remarked. Grace seemed to disagree, but Lisa was assured of her opinion. "And you don't have a drive-through."

"No. We're not really focused on the food that much as we are on birthday parties and the animatronics. That's what makes the money; kids don't really care about pizza when a talking fox will sing at you." Foxy mostly sung at, not to. "And cake's always good. In fact, we recently took on a chef, so we'll have more hands out on the floor. Between that and the merchandise, the business is way more successful than we expected. Especially in a smaller city." Then the smugness started to slowly show.

He couldn't help but let his pride leak out for their work. Most businesses failed in this amount of time, but they still were going strong, so it was worth celebrating. "We just had a show up north recently. Moving animatronics in and out of a van isn't exactly how anyone sane would spend their evening, but they paid well."

"Animatronics, huh?" Mike had noticed Patrick enter the room a moment before he spoke. There wasn't anywhere to sit, so the man just stayed standing off to the side. "How do those work?"

"Very lifelike, Aunt Lisa can back me up on this," Mike remarked as he gestured to his aunt who nodded in agreement. "They don't require any maintenance, they work well with the kids, and the kids love them."

"That's really great for you, Mike. That you're able to pull your life together," Grace assured with a smile.

"Don't brag too much or the other kids might want to take off," Isaac suddenly remarked out of the blue. It was the tone that was everything, because it could've been a joke, but that tone was much too harsh. That, along with how finite it was.

Mike blinked and stared as though he had been slapped in the face. Not from the words themselves, but from the suddenness of it. "…Is that a joke?" Mike inquired.

"I don't know, Mike. Is it a joke?" Isaac snapped back. This time it was obvious was emotion he was content on expressing and Mike had to withhold any immediate reaction.

"I don't know. That's why I asked you," the security guard tutted back. "Because I thought we were catching up and you're obviously ticked."

"You want to talk? Fine, we'll talk." Isaac leaned forward in his chair as Lisa tried to quiet him with silent daggers over the coffee table. Grace looked equally as worried and Mike could only wish that he had said nothing at all. "You split. You just up and left. No word, no calls, and years later you're just going to act like nothing happened? We're blood, Mike,  _blood!_  What were you thinking?!"

"I'm not bringing up what happened for Mom's benefit," he defended. "It's not like I thought I didn't have a future. I  _didn't_ have a future here, and nobody was going to help me. I think I turned out pretty well." Mike was almost shocked at how easily the words were rushing out. They were coming too quickly and with them came a sort of pleasure. Like rubbing a sore muscle; it hurt, but there was a relief in venting.

It seemed one sided though. Isaac looked flush and his mouth was clenched in a stiff line, as though he was seconds from clutching his chest and dropping to the floor of a heart attack. Before he could continue, Lisa hissed over the coffee table, "We had this conversation before. What's done is done. We're not living in the past." On both Mike and Isabelle's accounts possibly. If anything, this made Isaac look even angrier.

"I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and hold my tongue about this! I don't care if he's an adult, he wasn't one when he ran off!" Isaac turned his glare on Mike once again. "Do you have any idea what we had to go through?! We put up fliers, we called the police, we looked for months, and nothing! You don't even have the guts to call." He bitterly spat the last part out and the security guard sharpened his glare.

"Honey, please, let's not," Grace coaxed as she took her husband's arm. "I know you're upset, but Isabelle's going to hear. We should be celebrating being together." Right on cue, Patrick turned and headed into the kitchen to check on the woman in question.

"Mom couldn't not hear. She's probably hiding in the kitchen so that she can avoid this," Mike pointed out matter-of-factly. "I get it, I shouldn't have left, but you know what? I did. I did and-." Instead of being cut off by one of the relatives, he was cut off by the familiar sound of the Toreador March. It was sudden enough to freeze Mike for a moment. He was stuck with exasperation on his face and his hand posed pointing in his uncle's direction.

Then he abruptly snapped back to realization. "I need to take this," Mike quipped as he turned, stood, and left the living room without another word, shaking his head once he was out of view. He could only thank everything for the excellent timing as he answered the cell phone in the hallway, continuing to walk towards the bedrooms and out of earshot. "Hello?"

"Hello,~" a voice chimed on the other side. Marionette, and he sounded to be in a good mood thankfully. "I missed a call. Was it you?"

"Well, hello, hello," Mike greeted back. He forced the playfulness; he wasn't going to have the dining room incident ruin this brief call. "I did, but when you didn't pick up, I assumed that you were hiding in my trunk."

"I could have, but no," Marionette corrected. "With tomorrow being the big day, I started celebrating early by throwing myself the most wonderful pity party. You wouldn't believe it, there was even cake." It seemed as though misery had company. "And you?"

"I think I'm going to slit my wrists," Mike declared through slightly clenched teeth. "So, it's going as good as I expected. Mom's fine though." The was a discontent noise on the other side of the line. It was a brief out of tune noise and had been a bit difficult to hear, but it was there, and Mike hated it. "Wish I was back home with you. I could think of at least twenty things we could be doing right now."

"Oh? Enlighten me," Marionette invited. He covered any of his disappointment quickly. "What would we be doing?"

"I don't know, probably a movie," Mike suggested as he leaned back against the doorframe that connected the hall to the empty living room. "I mean, if we're going to get technical, I'd walk in from the car, throw my stuff down on the table, pull you into my arms, and-." For a moment Mike cut off, because he knew he was walking a line here. He could either play around with the Puppet, or be direct and get stuck returning to the living room sooner. He didn't want to kill his good mood just yet.

Mike smirked in amusement and readjusted the phone. "Scratch that. Instead of taking you in my arms I'd take your face in my hands." The amusement only grew; maybe the striped animatronic wouldn't get what he was joking about, but he would. "Maybe trace my thumbs over your cheeks. Just along the border of red. Just a light brush on your porcelain. Just like when I paint you- soft movements. Got to take my time." Marionette was entirely silent. Mike wondered if he went a bit too far and quipped a brow, "Still there?"

"Yes." He sounded more flustered than Mike could've expected. "Keep going. I'm… Mildly curious."

"You sound a little more than mildly curious," Mike remarked. His smirk wavered briefly, but his interest was piqued. This was a new sort of reaction. "But then so am I. I want to see how you tick, so I keep going." He turned back to the hall. "I move my thumbs down and- Oh." There was his oldest cousin; a ten-year-old stout boy with a glint of sunburn cresting his nose and cheeks. Instead of outside, here he was listening in, holding a can of fruit juice.  _"If he heard any of that then I swear-."_

"And then?" Marionette impatiently asked. "Keep going, Mike. I want to know."

"I can't. My cousin- my  _kid_ cousin is standing here." Of course, Marionette wouldn't argue with this, but Mike could hear a slightly exasperated static on the other side. As though the Puppet was more interested than Mike had figured. "I… Got to go."

"Call me back?" Marionette quietly inquired. The static quickly switched to the more somber tone that Mike recognized before he left.

"I promise," Mike assured and ended the call. He stared at his cousin, his cousin stared back, and he dared to ask. "…What are you doing?" The kid gave a slight shrug. "…Did you hear that?"

"Yeah," the kid admitted. "How'd you make Uncle Isaac so mad?" Immediately relief washed over Mike. The boy had only heard the fight and, apparently, didn't listen in on the phone call.

"I make more money than him," Mike replied out of reflex. He then started to lead him away. "Back outside with you. You don't want to be a part of that disaster." He followed him out the back door and decided to stick around on the back porch while the kids played. If he could watch kids for hours for money, then he could do it to dodge an awkward confrontation. At least the kids wanted to hear about the pizzeria. To them, a restaurant with talking robots in it was the most amazing thing in the world. A sharp contrast against the varied reactions inside the dining room. Unfortunately, it didn't last.

Lunch was extremely uncomfortable. The meal was good, but everything was so heavy and awkward in the room. Nobody wanted to deal with the previous fight, so barely anyone spoke. Except for Isabelle, who seemed to be pretending that the fight never happened, if she had noticed it. Mike stuck close to his mother as she genuinely seemed like the only one of the lot who believed in him. After lunch, Isaac and Grace gathered their children and headed home, leaving the house a little less tense.

With them out of the way, Bryce stepped into the conversation and it switched course to what everyone else had been up to, rather than what Mike had been doing. It went much better, especially since it reassured Mike's previous thoughts. Being that everyone was virtually the same as when he left. It almost reassured his decisions, almost as much as Marionette himself did. That being said, Mike did find the whole thing tiring, and had become weary of talking by time Lisa and her family left.

Unlike what he expected, Patrick decided to stay for dinner. This wasn't too much of a problem as Mike didn't exactly want to be stuck alone with his mother, knowing that they would run out of conversation topics even faster. He thought for a moment that perhaps having his uncle there would keep the conversation alive, and it did, but in a way that he hadn't expected.

"So, Mike, have you heard about Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria?"

It had been so sudden, so blunt, that Mike almost choked on his food. "No," he blurted out as he struggled to regain compositor. "I'm guessing it's another pizzeria like ours?"

"Somewhat. Freddy's had a dark history behind it that overshadowed what it was. I won't bring it up at the dinner table, but there were disappearances." Thankfully, Patrick hadn't done his research or he would've had plenty more to add to that. "I thought you would've heard of them, since they ran in Utah."

"Not anything I've remembered," Mike denied as he tried to focus on his dinner. "When did they close?"

"A couple of years back, I think. You don't just lose kids and not suffer a severe financial setback," Patrick pointed out playfully. This was going to be a funny conversation someday. For now, it felt much too ironic.

"Let's not bring that up at the dinner table. The morbid can wait for dessert," Isabelle insisted. The conversation on Freddy's briefly dropped, but Mike couldn't help but feel a little antsy. He couldn't tell if Patrick did his research and was fishing for answers or if his uncle had just gotten insanely lucky. Either way, it left him feeling reserved, and he decided that he needed to make a call.

"I'll be right back. I just remembered that I left my suitcase in the car," Mike excused and the other two believed him. Once outside, he called the house once more. It was answered on the first ring. "It's me. I need to run a scenario by you and you need to tell me what you think."

The animatronic was silent on the other end for a few moments. Then he dared to ask, "Would this be a scenario like earlier? Because I would be happy to help." This wasn't a time for flirting. He couldn't even tell for sure if he was flirting, considering how easily he could misconstrue Marionette's tones.

"I wish. My uncle was asking about Freddy's a couple of minutes ago and I can't tell if he knows something or if I'm overreacting." He leaned against the car and scanned the neighborhood. He had moved it closer to the house earlier, but he still felt the paranoia of being watched. "I didn't say anything, but he's smart enough to connect the dots if he finds the obituary."

"That's not going to happen," Marionette assured, growing serious. "What led to the conversation?"

"Nothing directly. Earlier we were talking about Foxy's, but that's it."

"Then that  _is_  it," the striped one assured. "Any animatronic pizzeria is going to be compared to Freddy's. It's been only a few years, Mike, most of those missing person cases are still open. Anyone could hear about Freddy's on the street alone." His voice grew gentler, "And if he somehow did figure it out, I doubt your uncle would suspect anything more than your innocence."

"Maybe… Yeah, we'll go with this." Mike rubbed his forehead tiredly. "I'm going back in. I'll call you again before bed." Though before he ended the call, he found himself back peddling. "You're still doing okay over there?"

"I miss you, if that's what you mean, but it's only a single night. I can stand a night apart so that you get this opportunity," Marionette explained. "I know how to stay distracted, Mike."

"That's what I like to hear." Not really, but it sounded nice saying it. "I'll call you back in a bit." When the call ended though, Mike didn't feel much better. Maybe about his uncle, but something else was bothering him. Unwilling to acknowledge what it was, Mike put his phone in his pocket, grabbed his suitcase, and headed back inside.

It was in the hallway outside the dining room when he heard his mother and uncle talking. Setting his suitcase on the floor, he lingered outside the door and listened in without shame.

"I just don't think it's a good time to bring it up. Maybe if all goes well tomorrow, but Mike's leaving around Noon, right?" Wrong. At this point, Mike was half willing to leave at six on the dot. "If we tell him now then he might feel… Cornered. I don't want him thinking that," Patrick explained in concern.

"I know, I just- He left so quickly that I think he already knows. Mike is smart; he picks up things faster than others," his mother pointed out. "And I think he noticed something going on."

Logic was biased by paranoia and, like a flashing sign, all his thoughts went towards Freddy's. This had to mean something about Freddy's, but he didn't know what. Without really thinking, he stepped into the kitchen. "Noticed what?" he asked as casually as he could. They bought easily that he had only caught the end of the conversation, yet both were more-so gawking that they had been heard. When they didn't continue, Mike did, "What is it? I can take it." He sat down at the table and leaned back in the chair.

Isabelle seemed disturbed, but after looking at Patrick for a moment she looked back to Mike. "There's something that we would like to talk to you about, but I don't… I don't want to startle you."

"Things don't startle me, Mom. Trust me," Mike assured as he watched her. "I can handle it."

"Okay then…" Isabelle hesitated another moment. "Mike, Patrick and I have been seeing each other."

It took a few seconds to really grasp what she said. He had been so prepared to hear something about Freddy's. He had gotten used to all his contacts being wrapped up with Henry and William and stuck at some sort of Pizzeria, or he would've probably realized that it was odd that his uncle had stayed for dinner. The words set in a bit longer before it finally clicked all the way.

Because it was his  _mother_ and his  _father's brother._

"Mikey? Honey, are you okay?" Isabelle asked when Mike stayed quiet a bit too long.

"Yeah, sure," Mike said without thinking. "I'm fine. It's cool." Maybe he felt a little sick, or at least extremely uncomfortable, but his mouth decided not to take any cues from his brain. "Kind of sudden, I mean. I didn't even know you two- okay." He pushed back the chair, "I think I need a- cake. Do we have cake?"

"There's ice cream in the freezer."

"That will do." By time he had the bowl out, the shock finally wore off.  _"Just in case today couldn't get even more screwed up. This is what I get for staying out of the loop…"_  He then reconsidered this.  _"Do I even want to be in the loop?"_

"You're sure you're okay with this?" Patrick asked in concern. "I know it's weird and feels sudden, but we've been together for almost a year. We didn't want to hide it from you- If I knew how you'd react, I would've told you the second I saw you." He certainly did sound remorseful about it. Then again, it wasn't as though either of them knew who he was dating, so he couldn't exactly judge.

"I just need about ten minutes and I'll be golden," Mike assured. He wasn't certain if this was true or not, but it bought him some time. The conversation dropped, dinner- and dessert- wrapped up quickly, and Patrick dismissed himself to head home. Which was a relief, as Mike would've hated the awkwardness that would've ensued if he lived there. As though the day wasn't already weird enough on its own.

But to a further relief, this seemed to signal the end of the day. The long, mostly boring, occasionally frustrating, and overall tiresome day had finally run its course. Isabelle dismissed herself to shower and head to bed once it got about nine o'clock and he was left to confront his old room.

It had been mostly untouched since he had left all those years ago. Other than the floor being vacuumed and the air smelling of aerosol spray, everything was left in the place that he had left it. The bed linens were even the same, though may have also been cleaned as they lacked any dust. He dropped the suitcase onto the bed and opened it to get a change of clothes, but found his eyes locking onto a familiar metal symbol that was hiding off to the side. His badge had slid into the corner of the suitcase, but it was still there.

He took it in his hand. Here was evidence of his connection to Freddy's being held in his hand. This badge connected him to the franchise, connected his job history, made him a part of something that had stretched so much further than anyone here could've ever considered. The badge was supposed to symbolize that he had succeeded where others hadn't. He had lived, he had thrived, and he knew the truth.

And the truth was that it was all luck.

As much as Mike pushed his confidence about how he had strived after leaving home, stumbling on Freddy's had been a fluke. Becoming close to Fredrick was only a chance of luck as well, as Fredrick only wanted to be close to him to replace the sons that he may or may not have lost. Getting the house, meeting Marionette, and nearly every one of his accomplishments was connected to what started out as a lucky break.

Those nights at Freddy's, though, had not been luck. He had struggled to stay alive and he chose to keep going back. The pizzeria itself was a sort of proving ground and Mike had passed the test, but he could've not been hired. He could've not moved down south. He could've stayed here with his mother and tried to work things out. Then he would've ended up with a more stable life, but one that he was overall less content with. While he didn't worry about the road he hadn't taken, it did make him feel strange.

Today had reminded him that he was a normal human. While he was here, he was just Mike Schmidt; nephew, cousin, or son who worked at an arguably fast food restaurant. He couldn't tell him of the accomplishments that he was proud of. He couldn't tell them anymore details than he already had.

It was so different than being with Marionette. While Marionette and he had become involved through how the clicked together, how their personalities meshed in such a strange way, he would be lying if he said that the Puppet didn't entice him with what he was. Him being so human bridged the gap, but him being the Puppet had enticed Mike more than he wanted to admit. At the start, it had been so foreign and exciting to be in the vicinity of and to be the sole companion of something that shouldn't exist.

Personality or not, Marionette had his strings wrapped around Mike from the very beginning, and neither even knew it. Eventually things evened out as Mike learned more about Marionette. A genuine friendship formed, and by this time Mike had settled into a more comfortable respect along with it. This left the groundwork for their future relationship. In the beginning, something like Marionette taking an interest in him made him feel important. Now, some _one_  like Marionette made him feel important.

…Or maybe he just missed Mari. Maybe he just missed his home and his life, even if he had been away for only the day. He wasn't certain if he wanted to wake up in the morning and still be here. He loved his mother, he truly did, but after all this time she had become a stranger. His family was familiar but distant, and Mike wasn't exactly wanting to struggle to mend these bridges. This wasn't his home any longer.

With an exhausted sigh, he dropped his badge into the suitcase and prepared to get his nightclothes out. Halfway through the gesture and he stopped, paused, and then drew back. "You know what? No." He closed the lid of the suitcase once more. Then he turned and took out of his room, heading down to his mother's bedroom door. He knocked briskly and waited.

There was a brief wave of memories that washed over him. Memories of standing outside this door and calling for a mother who wouldn't come. It almost startled him when the door opened and Isabelle appeared in her nightgown and robe. His nerve stayed firm, but his tone softened. "Mom, I'm sorry…"

* * *

" _The truth is… I love you, Freddy."_

" _But what about Bea?! She was made for you! She's everything that you could ever want."_

" _In theory, maybe, but what we have runs deeper than what I had with Bea, and surviving the Mauve Monster has only proved that to me. I-."_

As soon as the phone started to ring in the kitchen, the plush dolls were dropped and the animatronic teleported beside the phone. He answered eagerly, "Well, hello again!" He knew that it was going to be Mike.

"Someone's in a good mood," Mike pointed out with amusement. "Ready to get into a better one?"

Marionette's response was sort of mixed. He could the tingling sensation along his spine as he remembered exactly where their conversation went earlier. So peculiar, so strange, and he lightly traced over his mask. "But what could be better than talking with you?"

"How about you talking to me in person?" Mike suggested playfully. "I'm coming home."

"What? But… But you were supposed to stay the night. What happened?" Marionette could help but assume the worst if he was coming back early.

"Nothing, I just had my fill of family bonding. I don't think I could stand another minute sitting around chatting," Mike reassured him. "And if I'm going to sleep, I rather it be in my own bed."

"But your birthday. The whole point was-," he checked the clock. "Your birthday starts in twenty minutes and you're going to celebrate it driving," his flat tone gave away his feelings away better than his words ever could. "I don't understand, Mike."

"What's to understand? I'm ready to come home and Mom's fine with it." Mike was only more amused by how the conversation was going. "And I was going to be driving home on my birthday anyway, right? The only difference is that I'm doing it at night." He paused a moment. "…Thank you for pushing me to reconnect with my family. I needed to do it, I'm glad I did it, but I'm not ready to commit to two days. Let alone my birthday… I want to be home with you tonight." The soft warbling echoed through the phone. "I'll be home by twelve thirty. Earlier if I can skip stopping for gas."

"I'll be waiting for you," Marionette replied. He could only barely suppress the bubbling joy that rose in his chest or the chimes that wanted to follow. "I… I'm so glad that you decided to come home."

"I am too," Mike admitted. "I'll see you in a bit."

"I love you. I'll see you when you get home." With that, the call ended, and Marionette was left to wait. He felt like he was in knots, whether his strings or his body in general. Mike would be home in less than an hour…

Which meant he had limited time to prepare.

* * *

Mike noticed that the lights were off when he pulled up to the house. It was odd, but not too troubling. By now he was feeling the effects of such a long drive and was relieved at the thought of collapsing into his own bed. Leaving his suitcase in the car- he had other clothes and wasn't willing to lug it in- he approached the front door and slipped in his key. As he cracked the door open, he caught a glimpse of light from the dining room table. His eyes fell on a ring of small candles before registering that they were atop a chocolate cake.

Then, suddenly, Marionette was beside the table with him. It was as though he had slipped out of the darkness and, honestly, with his coloring Mike could've believed that he was there the whole time. "Happy birthday!" he chimed. "I know it's not much yet, but it was short notice."

"I gave you thirty minutes at Midnight; I think that counts as no notice," Mike pointed out as he eagerly went to pull Marionette in for an embrace. Marionette eagerly hugged onto him in delight and chimed happily. "It's perfect, trust me. This is all I want for my birthday."

"Then that's wonderful! Here," Marionette drew away and turned to the cake. He lifted it and brought it closer, as though presenting it at one of the pizzeria's many parties. "Make a wish and I'll cut you a slice."

"It's a little late for cake," Mike pointed out in amusement as he glanced at the clock. "But what the hell, I can sleep when I'm dead." He quickly blew out the candles. A few stayed alight, but Mike left them so that they wouldn't be fully taken into the dark. Oddly enough, Marionette wasn't making any attempt to turn the lights on, but Mike wasn't protesting; he wasn't looking forward to any bright lights until morning.

Marionette set the cake back aside and went to cut a slice. "You really didn't have to go through the trouble," Mike reminded. "Midnight or not, my birthday really doesn't start until morning. I'm just happy enough coming home." But it was really was nice. A small gesture, but a nice gesture nonetheless. To answer him, Marionette merely offered some cake on the cake knife, waiting expectantly.

It made more sense to why the cake was getting pushed after Mike tasted it. It looked like a sort of chocolate, but while the icing was chocolate the cake itself seemed to be some sort of spice cake. He didn't even remember them having spice cake, so most likely Marionette made it himself. It was perfect and he didn't care if he was biased.

"God, I missed your cake," Mike remarked as he reached forwards and cupped Marionette's cheek. The Puppet stopped what he was doing. "And I missed having you in arm's reach." He traced his thumb along his painted cheek.

_Clink._

The cake knife now laid on the floor, having fallen out of Marionette's hand. The Puppet twitched, his smile having vanished for a slightly surprised one. Only now did Mike realize how similar this was to the phone call earlier and, considering how flustered the Puppet had been during the call. Maybe he had made the animatronic uncomfortable?

"Everything okay?" Mike drew back his hand and Marionette hand shot upwards to catch it. He stopped Mike mid-movement and held his wrist securely, but said nothing. He began to make a strange noise. It almost sounded like a warbling or chiming, but there was a crackling at the same time. In a way, the conflicting sounds seemed to turn into music, though made an aimless sound that seemed to lack proper coordination. Perhaps this sound that replaced his voice- as oddly as it was- was some form of his voice?

Then, silently, Marionette moved away from the table and into the darkness of the living room, coaxing Mike along with him by the hand. Something about this scenario felt uncanny; he had no idea what was going on, and yet his pulse started to quicken as he moved into the dark. One unintentional touch and here he was getting lured into the darkness where the candles' light couldn't reach. Only once he could see nothing and vaguely make out where he was did Marionette move in.

Cool porcelain, warm fabric; he didn't need to see. Luck had nothing to do with it.


	66. Chapter 66

Everything was restocked, everything looked in place, and Foxy was entertained enough for the evening. Thus, everything was ready for an easy Sunday and a possibly hectic Monday. With all that needed to be done finished, Jeremy was about ready to head home. No doubt his little, animatronic triplets would be waiting for him. Though Jeremy willingly arranged this weekend ritual. Foxy spent most of the weekend alone and, being that he was doted on as the 'first mate', it only made sense for him to come by anyway. It helped with getting started the next week.

It was a little after eleven o'clock. A little later than usual, but Foxy had been unusually clingy when he had tried to leave at ten. Now that he had the fox over at the arcade, having challenged him to beat some sort of unreachable score on one of the games, he was almost willing to quickly dismiss himself and hurry out the back. Foxy would get the hint and being as tough skinned as he was, probably wouldn't take it too poorly. Before Jeremy could even make the attempt, he heard the phone ringing in the office.

It was weird to get a call this late, so he assumed it was one of his coworkers. He stepped inside the room and answered the phone. "Hey. It's Jeremy here," he introduced as he waited for some sort of response. It was a familiar voice, but one that he had not expected to hear.

"Hello, hello, Jeremy! It's Scott, I was just… Checking to see if anyone was there. I thought that maybe you'd all be gone, but it turns out that you weren't! That's great." It was the Phone Guy, but something seemed a little off in his tone. Jeremy never remembered hearing the man this enthusiastic before. Though it was entirely possible that he was under the weather and delusional, as his voice sounded a bit scratchy.

"Yeah, just me. Cleaning up now before the big Monday rush." If there was a Monday rush. "So, I don't have to come back tomorrow. Just… Just me and Foxy… Something you needed? Were you looking for Fritz?"

"Actually, yes. I wanted to see if there had been any change with the warehouse. Just checking in on that, really. How's Foxy?" Either Mike or Fritz had said that the Phone Guy's favorite character was Foxy, so it wasn't too surprising that he would ask. That is, if Phone Guy didn't sound so weirdly comfortable.

"I don't really know. It didn't go well, but I didn't want to ask what they saw in there. It's… Unsettling." Jeremy coughed and moved to sit down in the office chair. "But Foxy's doing pretty well." There was an uncomfortable silence, as though he expected the man to say something more. "…And I'll be heading home soon, so I'm just wrapping everything up."

"How are the Minireenas doing?" Phone Guy asked curiously. "Are they still a handful?" Jeremy knew something odd was happening now. He hadn't told the Phone Guy anything about his Minireenas, nor his issues with them, and this all seemed rather suspicious. Foxy was now standing in the door, looking in expectantly.

"They're okay…" He covered the mouthpiece briefly. "It's Phone Guy… He's just acting a little weird."

"Is it Baby?" Foxy's voice was blunt and his tone was absent.

"Umm, no, it's Phone Guy-."

"Is it Baby  _using his voice?_ " Foxy specifically asked, suspicious in his tone. His voice sounded dangerously low. Jeremy felt his anxiety kick in; he wasn't sure if he could handle Foxy sprinting to Phone Guy's house to fight Baby. "I know she's there. Is that her?"

"I'll-I'll check… Hey, Scott?" Jeremy removed his hand to speak. "This is kind of funny, but Foxy's here and he's asking about you."

"He is? What is he saying?" Phone Guy asked eagerly.

"He's… Are you Baby?" There was a resounding thump as a phone slammed down on a receiver, ending the call. "Hello? Scott?... Oh." Jeremy slowly lowered down the phone. "I… Think it was Baby."

"I knew it," Foxy snarled.

"Y-Yeah, something was wrong. Scott doesn't usually call to ask about you and the girls- Daisy and the others," Jeremy agreed as he looked back towards the fox. "…Are you okay?" The animatronic twitched in response. "Want to talk about it?"

"There ain't nothing to talk 'bout, Lad. She hung up. An' if she didn't, I woulda," Foxy insisted with a stubborn tone as he headed back out into the dining room. Jeremy set the phone back in its receiver and followed the animatronic out. It was about time to wrap the evening up anyway, even if he was concerned with leaving the other alone now.

"I guess I'm going to head home now," Jeremy suggested. Foxy turned back towards him and watched him without words. "Everyone's probably getting worried and I- If I stay up too late then I won't get up tomorrow, and if I don't get up tomorrow then I'll have a heck of a time trying to get up on Monday." He couldn't help but babble a little bit. That had been such an uncomfortable conversation, especially since he now knew that Baby was willing to fake her voice and pretend to be someone else. Things like that unnerved him.

"Ya sure? Ya don't have to go on me account, Lad. I ain't gonna dwell on Baby," Foxy reminded as he watched Jeremy fumble.

"It's not Baby, it's just late and I'd have to go anyway. I couldn't just spend the night here… I don't think the office couch is much of a bed, no matter what Mike says," Jeremy insisted with a smile. He started over towards the front doors and tried not to give the illusion of being shaken.

"Ya ain't scared of her, are ya?" Foxy randomly inquired. It was enough to cause Jeremy to halt in his tracks.

"…Of Baby? No, no. She couldn't- She's huge and slow,  _no._ I just… It really makes me uneasy that it sounded so much like him…" Then Jeremy looked over at Foxy. Confusion stretched across his face and he hesitated, as though uncertain whether or not to continue speaking. "Foxy, are you able to change your voice? You- I know you wouldn't do that-."

"I can't," Foxy denied immediately. "It's hard enough keepin' this accent all the time." Jeremy already knew about Foxy 'falling out of character'. He had witnessed it for himself back during winter, back when Foxy had his episode. Though Foxy was careful to not let this happen again.

"You don't always have to be in character with us, you know," Jeremy reminded hesitantly. He regretted the words towards the end and hoped he wouldn't offend the animatronic. The last thing anyone needed was a defensive Foxy, but Foxy seemed remarkably mellow, even after the call from Baby.

"Eh, it's easier. I be Captain Foxy, I need to always be ready fer a fight!" Foxy dramatically recited as he raised his claw. He hesitated and then gave a stiff shrug, adding in, "And it be weird if I start droppin' back into someone I ain't."

"I guess so…" That didn't mean that Jeremy wasn't somewhat curious about this other side of Foxy. It felt like Foxy was both the most honest about his feelings, but the most disingenuous about his identity. Then again, Jeremy didn't want to push too hard, because Foxy seemed content with how he was. "Try not to go crazy tonight," he forewarned before giving a dismissive wave and shutting the door, locking it behind him.

It wasn't long before Jeremy was unlocking his front door. He tiredly stepped in and looked around the living room. "I'm home," he called out. Almost immediately, Daisy scurried over and grabbed ahold of his pant leg, tugging it desperately. "What's wrong?" The Minireena hurried back towards the hallway and Jeremy followed her in strides.

There in the hall was Forget-Me-Not on top of Rose, smacking her tiny hands down at the doll. Rose responded by tugging at the upper doll's dress and kicking her legs. Max watched from nearby and made no effort to stop the fight.

"Hey, stop!" Jeremy called out as he hurried in. "Stop that! No fighting!" He wrapped his hand around Forget-Me-Not's middle and pulled her off. She squirmed in his grasp while Rose sprung to her feet and hurried off towards the bedroom. "Why- I don't get it, why are you fighting?!" Forget-Me-Not began to squeal and giggle, but obviously more out of frustration than joy. It didn't help that the phone also started to ring.

"You're- I'm not- Time out," Jeremy scrambled out as he headed out into the living room with the fussing doll. The Minireena let out a squeak and tried to spin herself around in his grasp. He held her still with one hand and answered the phone with the other. "Hello?"

"You left your jacket."

"…What?" For a moment, Jeremy was just flustered enough that the voice was entirely foreign. A random man just called him about a coat.

"You left your jacket over here. I told you I didn't think you needed it," the voice explained. "I'll put it over in the office. Just remember when you get here tomorrow."

It was then that it dawned on Jeremy that he was talking to Foxy.  _Out of character_ Foxy. Jeremy sputtered a moment and set down Forget-Me-Not on the table. The Minireena promptly hopped off and ran into the bathroom to mope, and left her caretaker standing in the living room.

"Oh, uh… H-Hey, I didn't- I didn't expect you to call," Jeremy got out unevenly. "Sorry, I'm… I just broke up a fight between the Minireenas. It was brutal."

"Yeah, I'm not surprised. Aggressive little dolls," Foxy agreed. He sounded so human that Jeremy found it jarring, even when he heard some of Foxy's 'other voice' some time ago. "I'd offer to take them off your hands for a few days, but I think I rather throw myself into a river." There was a strange pause as he waited for Jeremy to say something. "…Still with me?"

"Yes, sorry," Jeremy squeaked out. "It's just… I  _really_ didn't expect you to call."

"I could hang up," Foxy offered.

"No! No, I'm fine," Jeremy insisted.

"I could go back into character," Foxy offered. He still seemed unbothered.

"No, really, Foxy I'm fine!" Then a strange thought passed his mind. "Do you… Want me to call you something else? Like… Like how you call Marionette Marion?" That was followed by a long period of silence. His pulse quickened as nervousness kicked in.  _"And I offended him. I knew it. I knew I was going to offend him."_

Pink caught the corner of his eye and he looked down to see Rose standing beside him. Before he could really react, she climbed his leg and settled into his lap; curling up like a kitten. Jeremy patted over her back and waited for Foxy to respond.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Foxy finally admitted. "You're already a mess from me talking to you like this, I can't risk breaking my 'first mate'." His voice held some amusement, but also a rather reluctant tone.

"Foxy, when am I not a mess?" Jeremy bluntly retorted. He couldn't help but be a little less than impressed by Foxy's dismissiveness of him. He was treating him like a frightened child. "I think I can handle  _you._ "

There was no silence. Instead, Foxy broke into rowdy laughter. It took him a few moments to regain compositor. "Lad, you're- you're a trip, ya know that?" With that, he stumbled right back into character. "Get some sleep! Ya need it; you're gettin' all grouchy." Another metallic chuckle, "Night, Lad."

"Goodnight, Foxy… Call me back whenever you want." He could hear the animatronic fiddling with the buttons before hanging up the phone. With a small smile, Jeremy ended the call and set his phone down on the table. Now he turned his attention on Rose. Or he tried to. "Everything okay? No more fighting. Especially when I'm not home." It seemed like Forget-Me-Not was the aggressor, but he couldn't be too certain that it wasn't mutual. Rose continued to curl into his lap while Daisy watched curiously from nearby.

Jeremy had more things to worry about than obsessing over Foxy's 'human' voice.

…But it had sounded so real.

* * *

It had been so perfect. Every inflection, every remark, it was all a perfect replica from how he sounded. Maybe not as nervous, but he wouldn't be nervous talking to a friend, right? It didn't make sense. The voice was perfect and yet Jeremy had caught on to it being entirely fake. Maybe the voice needed more work, but it wasn't as though there was much of an example to go off of.

Things had gone fine for a few days. Scott's arrangement had made everything so much easier. The animatronic would sleep during the day and at night he would be free to roam the house while Scott slept. At first this had been a wonderful arrangement. Television was just as entertaining as it was in memory, Scott didn't care what he touched, and there was little worry about being spotted since the windows were heavily curtained. Yet while everything started so good, the animatronic was growing restless, and Scott wasn't budging on his lack of communication.

Now this wouldn't have bothered Baby. Baby was the type who would've been content with what she had, mostly because she would've wanted limited time around any humans. She always had to be 'on' around humans and would always be thrilled when she could let her true colors leak out behind closed doors. Even if it meant that other animatronics had to put up with her behavior.

Yet this wasn't Baby. This was just a hijacker in her shell, standing in a house and staring down at the phone now cradled in the receiver. It had been so easy to slam the phone down and yet the damage was already done. At least Jeremy didn't know everything; maybe he would just shrug this whole fiasco off. Even if he did, it didn't fix this growing irritation.

Baby could play pretend for days, waiting for things to come to her, but Ennard was impatient.

It left the office and stood outside of the bedroom door, where Scott locked himself away every night. Wire fingers wrapped around the doorknob and tried to turn, but received resistance. Locked doors were familiar with Scott; he locked the garage during the day and the bedroom at night. This meant that Ennard was never in the same room as Scott since the first night he had willingly let him out. It had originally been fine, but it was now becoming more distressing. It didn't want to stay in the garage; not if it meant that there would continue to be locked doors.

With this train of thought, it waited patiently. Tonight, it would not return to its designated area. Tonight, it would wait for morning.

Scott woke at least six hours after this defiant thought. He stumbled through the living room, locking the garage door on the way, and stepped into the kitchen. Still half-asleep, he grabbed a bottle of orange juice and a granola bar before taking his medication. It should've been a normal routine. Sure, he was awake earlier than usual, but he had slept fine enough. Yet something felt off that he almost entirely ignored.

Then he noticed the footsteps at the entry to the kitchen. His throat clenched and he gripped the bottle tight enough that he was surprised it didn't cave in and overflow juice onto his shaking hand. Hit throat was too tight to speak and it, this clown faced animatronic, had him cornered into the kitchen. He was utterly floored.

"Hello," it greeted.

"…Hello?" Scott tried back.

"It's nice to see you again. I haven't seen much of you." The soothing voice was a ruse, he knew this, but it didn't ease him as intended. It might have done the exact opposite really. Though that might have also been because he could see it better in the light of the kitchen and just seeing the wires twitching made him uncomfortable. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing…" Scott denied. His mouth dried out, even though it still tasted like orange juice.

"You swallowed medicine." Ennard's eyes looked around at the counter, like it was looking for the pill bottle in his robe pocket. Somehow it could identify medicine. "Are you sick?"

"No, I'm just… I take medicine," Scott dryly responded. He followed the comment with an anxious cough and sipped the juice again.

"But you take medicine when you're sick," Ennard insisted, "and then you get better… Is that why you avoid me?" This line of though felt like a dangerous one. As though anything that was said would be misconstrued in a way that Scott didn't mean. Even if the animatronic wasn't being aggressive, he could feel his guard constantly up.

"I'm not sick. I just- I need this to… I have some things wrong with me. Wrong with my- with me." It would be best not to go into specifics. There was the dark suspicion that something robotic would want to open a body and look inside, and his problems went too deep for that.

"Then you're broken," Ennard pointed out. "You don't look broken… Except." Suddenly the animatronic looked downwards. Scott had never felt as self-conscious of his fake leg as he did in this one moment, under the piercing gaze of blue eyes. "Why don't you get fixed? Can't they go inside and fix you?"

"I… I-I'm not  _broken_ , I'm just- You can't fix this. It's not that sort of broken. This doesn't go away…" Just saying that made Scott feel ill. The truth always tasted bitter, but orange juice didn't wash the taste away. Legs didn't just get reattached, nerves weren't just replaced, and twitching couldn't be remedied through recalibration; an animatronic wouldn't understand that if they never learned to be human.

Ennard stared at him for a few moments. It seemed confused, but took a few moments to process the information. Its blue eyes seemingly blinked, or rolled down far enough to look like they were blinking, and its mask lightly shifted. It was probably nudged by more wires hiding underneath. "I think I understand."

"Well, I- To be really honest- I don't understand why you're… We had a deal, we- I thought it was going well," Scott tried. He kept having to stop and make the wording gentler, trying to keep from offending the animatronic. "But you're not- you're here and I'm here and nobody's in the garage."

"I wanted to see you," Ennard's feminine voice became a bit firmer. "You wouldn't let me see you."

"Okay, uh… I'll tell you what." Scott's brain worked as fast as it could. "Why don't you go into the garage and rest and I'll work, and tonight I'll… I'll stay up later. We can spend some time together then, okay? We could… Watch TV or something." The animatronic made a strange whirring noise and its wires seemed to shift and readjust. "I promise."

" _Great_!" Did it just change tone? "I'll return to the garage to rest, but I can't wait for tonight. We'll have so much  _fun_." He immediately regretted it. Even as Ennard turned and headed to the garage, Scott felt like he had made the biggest mistake of his life in that one moment. Or one of them. He trusted it even less at night than during the dim light of morning.

The garage door closed and Scott gave a tired exhale. He wasn't sure if he could handle this much longer.

* * *

Mike's birthday was about what he expected; lounging around like he spent most days off and zoning out, while occasionally switching over to a diet consisting entirely of cake. In short, it was about the best birthday he could've had.

Around noon, his cell phone started to ring. He suspected it to be his mother or someone else from his family, so he made absolutely no attempt to answer it. Marionette was more than willing to do it. After what transpired the night before- being Mike returning home early- he was in an upbeat mood and while he answered the phone, the chiming could nearly be heard. Though this mood abruptly plummeted. Silently, Marionette approached the couch and offered the cell phone to Mike.

Mike looked upwards at Marionette, noticed his lack of an expression, and took the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Fritz," Fritz quietly spoke over the line. He sounded tired and, perhaps, a little distressed. "Look, we need you down at Foxy's. Something happened last night."

"What? Like another break-in?" Mike tensed and straightened. "Is it Jeremy? What happened?"

"Jeremy's here, but… Just get down here, quick. I can't-," Fritz cut off as Natalie called out for him. "I'll be right there! Mike, just hurry!" Then he hung up the phone and Mike was left reeling. Almost immediately he sprung to his feet and was at the dining room table.

"I swear if Foxy pulled a bite of '96, he's going straight to Phone Guy's," Mike promised as he headed to the door. He then stopped abruptly at the door and paused. He turned back towards Marionette who was watching in concern. "Am I going to haul myself over there and it's going to be a party? Because if it is,  _I'm_ going to Phone Guy's."

"As much as I wish I could say that it is a party, Fritz sounded serious during the call," Marionette worriedly pointed out. "But Foxy… He would never do anything to Jeremy. He couldn't! He's too friendly with him." He worriedly crossed his arms and lightly swayed in place. "I hope this doesn't have anything to do with the warehouse."

"Unless whatever's haunting the warehouse rode in the car with us and hijacked the pizzeria. Please tell me that doesn't happen," Mike reverted back to concern.

"I wouldn't expect so… But maybe? It could be very possible… But spirits don't latch onto cars, they latch onto people," Marionette pointed out.

"Foxy might've very well latched onto someone by the way Fritz was talking. I'm driving over, you can teleport or should I drive?" Mike's answer was Marionette abruptly vanishing. Seeing this, Mike locked the door and headed for the car, then raced to the pizzeria.

The lights were all off as he drove up and pulled around behind back. He jolted out of the car and headed to the back door, throwing it open and stepping inside the darkness of the hallway. "Fritz?" There was no immediate response and he continued to the dining room. Then, suddenly, he was struck by a sudden sound and blinding lights.

" _Surprise!"_

He walked right into it.

Everything was set up as though it was a normal birthday party, save the fact that nobody was in uniform and the children were absent. Tabby was too, whether it be because of her weekend job or because she couldn't muster the enthusiasm to attend. Just Jeremy, Natalie, and Fritz- the last of which seemed to be smirking just a bit that his rouse had worked. Then again, Mike had a suspicion that Marionette was in on it and totally ignored his comments on not wanting an actual party. In a way, he was kind of glad he did; though he still kept kicking himself for knowingly falling for it.

It was so different than a child's birthday party. Less scheduling, less of a fuss to get the birthday boy time with the animatronics; which was fine with Mike, who didn't exactly want Foxy hovering over his shoulder all afternoon. He was pretty much convinced Marionette would still do it, but naturally this was quite a bit different. Marionette's hand trailing along his shoulder was much more comforting than Foxy squeaking and pirate-ing in his ear. Unfortunately, Foxy did start randomly singing the Pirate Song shortly after they sung the somewhat awkward birthday song.

In a quiet moment, Fritz confronted Mike. "Sorry about that earlier. I wouldn't have lied if I wasn't put under a heat lamp. So, to make it up to you-," Fritz laid down a flyer. "You're welcome."

"What is this supposed to be?" Mike asked as he glanced over the paper. At first, he assumed that the help wanted poster was for them, just out of a general reaction, until his eyes locked on the three animated mice at the top. It was a help wanted flier for Hickory, Dickory, and Doc's.

"I thought you'd get a kick out of this. Tabby found it at her house a few days ago," Fritz explained. He had an amused smile the entire time. "Take a look at that utter denial of minimum wage. I think we could see why Hickory's might not be hiring too well." The technician reached out to get another slice of cake. "And before you ask, they do answer their phones."

"You called them? I'm going to assume you didn't use your real name."

"Sam Fritz never lies about his name," Fritz promised. Though he was then distracted as Natalie popped up behind him and stole his attention. As they chattered on about something that was lost to Mike, he directed his attention back to the flier.

It was crinkled and the edge was ripped, as though it had been torn out of a magazine. Indeed, the back of the flier was an unrelated advertisement, and the information on the front was mostly limited. ' _Looking for part and full-time workers in kitchen and in maintenance. Many opportunities for adults looking for work in a fun atmosphere!'_ So perhaps they didn't hire teenagers; at least that was a little better than Freddy's, though it never specified if it meant legally or figuratively. He did highly doubt that the job could live up to being 'fun'.

Marionette's hand returned to his shoulder. The Puppet silently stood beside him and Mike could only assume that he was also scanning the flier. He could just barely feel the fabric fingers flex, almost thoughtfully shifting, as though questioning without speaking. Mike knew what he would've asked, especially after what Fritz said about calling. "I'm not planning to spend my entire birthday focused on this." Mike set the flier aside on the table and turned his focus to the pizza, reaching for another slice. "The last thing I want is to get you wrapped up in Hickory's."

"I'm glad," Marionette assured. Though he now curiously looked at the flier. "…No, I don't think I could've."

"Could've what?" Mike inquired as he looked back. Now he noticed that Foxy was standing the too. He didn't know which of them was the recipient of that comment.

"Nothing at all! Don't concern yourself about some arcade," Marionette chirped eagerly. His hands were back on Mike's shoulders, rubbing along them affectionately. "How about we get the presents?"

Mike had to resist making a comment about Marionette's surprise last night because he didn't want anyone to get suspicious. That was also the reason that he didn't mention the three quarters of delicious cake sitting in his fridge at home; everything would seem too odd. So, he resisted it with his own inward remark. "Sure. Sounds good."

It at least took his mind back off of Hickory Dickory's. As far as he was concerned, they had run out of information leads, meaning that the mysteries would stay a mystery. Possible forever, unless someone got in contact with them from there, which he highly doubted. Instead, the gifts were more important; cash, a joke shirt with a sock monkey on it- he could almost feel Marionette's gaze trying to burn through Fritz's head, until it was eventually revealed that Jeremy bought the shirt- and a homemade gift basket. Foxy just dumped about twenty tokens on the table and shrugged unconvincingly.

But it was a great birthday; much better than he could've expected. No stress, no drama, good friends, and a lighthearted mood. It was great… Yet something was still gnawing at him and it involves the night before, back when he was alone in his childhood bedroom. Something about that agonizing admittance that he was human had come home with him, disappeared for about twelve hours, and was back to test his patience. Even in the presence of his job, of the animatronics, it came to jab him in the side and remind him that it was still there.

In the end, he was just the average joe. The average joe didn't always get to be excited, but they found fulfilment. The average joe didn't always get answers, but they were content. Places like Hickory's were lost from focus and secrets were lost to time.

"Everything okay, Mike? You seem a little quiet," Natalie pointed out once she noticed Mike's lessening enthusiasm. He was able to shrug it off once again.

"Just sitting here feeling old," Mike excused. "The usual."

" _You_ feel old?  _I_ feel old," Jeremy defended. "I still feel like I should be waking up at the crack of dawn to rush off to school, not like I'm raising a family of four." This comment seemed to particularly amuse Foxy. "Oh, and I got a call last night." Foxy went abruptly silent and stiff; either ending to this story would be a terrible slip up. He didn't know what would kill a party faster; him coming out of character or Baby rearing her head from beyond their reach. "Fritz, you might want to call Phone Guy. He sounded a little strange."

Fritz agreed with a passive nod, then did a double take. "What kind of strange?"

"Just… You know, like something was wrong but he didn't want to say it. That sort of strange." This was, of course, a partial lie, but Foxy appreciated it. Marionette didn't have to hear about Baby and nobody had to know about what he did.

Suddenly, Mike drew attention back to himself, "Speaking of which, I need to make a call. I'll be right back." He started for the office.

"Not Phone Guy though?" Fritz inquired. Just the talk of Phone Guy 'acting strange' had him paranoid.

"Nah, I'll let you handle him," Mike remarked jokingly and promptly disappeared into the office, shutting the door behind him. This left the others alone in the dining room and talk of Phone Guy died down into a low murmur. Marionette noticed that Mike didn't return immediately, but waved it off as Foxy randomly started changing the direction of the conversation to expanding the business. About fifteen minutes later, Mike finally returned, and it only occurred to Marionette then that the call had lasted an unusually long amount of time.

"Everything went well I take it?" Marionette guessed as Mike retook his seat. The striped being had taken the chair beside him in the length of time that he was gone and looked to him with a slightly curious smile.

"Well enough. You know how much I love talking on the phone," Mike quipped back. He seemed a bit more relaxed now. "So where were we…?" Mike was soon wrapped into the conversation and everything was back to normal. In fact, Mike was much more engaged now than he was previously, so the Puppet assumed that whoever Mike talked to had made him feel better. He soon assumed that it was Isabelle assuring Mike that she was fine with him coming home. It logically made the most sense.

The birthday party continued jovially.

* * *

"You didn't let me out."

Scott awoke with a jolt and clutched to his armchair. He didn't remember when he fell asleep; probably around nine-thirty considering that the TV was on a completely different program. His eyes flickered onto the garage door only to find it gaping open. Panic took hold as he looked around, trying to locate the location of the voice. Then he noticed a bit of white out of the corner of his eye. He decided not to look over in the direction of the animatronic; it was easier to simply not look over at it, huddled beside the seat.

"But it's okay. I let myself out."

It shifted beside the seat before disappearing out of view. Scott glanced over, but didn't try hard to search it out. He didn't really want to look at it and didn't want to truly know how close it was. He could feel the chair move as it shifted behind him. Perhaps it was trying to hide from view.

"…I thought about what you said," Ennard admitted. "And if you can be damaged and not broken, then maybe I'm not broken either." There was the clinking of metal and the familiar shift of wires. The feminine voice lowered in tone just for a moment. "I don't feel broken."

Even if Scott could've said something he wasn't sure that he would've. There wasn't a real way to respond to this comment, especially when he was stuck in such an uncomfortable situation. The only sound for some time was the lull of the television, droning out some sort of sitcom that he wasn't paying attention to. Slowly, his heartrate started to ease and his muscles started to relax. The amalgam wasn't going to do anything else at the moment, hopefully, so his guard started to lower.

He had spent so long alone with his cats that it felt strange to have a sentient thing here with him. Even if he didn't feel exactly comfortable with it. Maybe it was just him; maybe there was a reason Mike and Fritz lowered their guard enough to trust them and he was just stuck in a constant state of fear because of one incident… One incident that had forever changed his life…

His guard went back up immediately.

* * *

"I know this is such short notice, but we are in a bit of a jam. If you wouldn't have called early we- well, I would be stuck working through the week and I already do too much during the dayshift." Her voice was bubbly and dripping with nervousness. Regardless, she was certainly friendly, and it wasn't that sort of false friendliness either. She just seemed so relieved to know that there was a backup who was willing to come in. "Are you sure you can make it in tomorrow? It's just such sudden notice-."

"No, it's fine," Mike assured over the phone. "What time should I be there?"

"If you can get here at eleven then we can go over the paperwork beforehand."

"Alright," Mike agreed. He briefly glanced down the hallway towards the living room. Marionette seemed to still be distracted so he closed the master bedroom door a little more. "I'll be there."

"Thank you, Mr. Fezzmen," the woman said with the relief still present. Then she broke into what was probably a recited farewell, "And thank you for your interest in Hickory, Dickory, and Doc's Funcade! We'll be having fun with you soon!"


	67. Chapter 67

It really didn't seem like anything was amiss. Morning went as normal, work started without an issue, nobody acted odd or suspicious, and eventually the day was over. Just a basic day of parties and children. School must have been out for the summer as there were more children than usual, but work still went smoothly. Parties, cake, ice cream, songs; everything was fine and perfect.

Then about ten o'clock at night rolled around and the normal ritual was abruptly changed.

Around seven, Mike had said he was tired and went to take a nap. Then, after awaking, Mike changed from his uniform into something more casual, got his things together, and randomly announced, "I'm heading over to Phone Guy's." This was very peculiar for Marionette. Not that he was leaving to see Phone Guy, but that he was leaving so late to visit anyone.

"Oh? That seems a bit sudden," Marionette teased in light questioning. "Any reason why?"

"Just checking in to make sure he's got it all together. You heard what everyone's been saying about him calling all the time sounding flustered," Mike pointed out as he leaned on the back of the couch.

"I just assumed it was his hobby," Marionette murmured. His tone of disinterest wasn't new. Mike was very aware of Marionette less than pleased outlook of the Phone Guy and wasn't bothered by it. After all, it wasn't as though the Puppet showed any sort of outright aggression since that one incident involving the confession about Afton. He didn't stop Mike either.

"I don't know how long I'll be over there, but if it gets late then don't wait up for me; it means he murdered me and fed me to his cats," Mike remarked. Then he leaned down and tilted Marionette's head upwards enough to kiss his forehead. This shouldn't have been too strange, but something seemed oddly… Timed on the gesture. The motion lingered, as though it was much more sentimental when Mike was just leaving for a little while to visit a 'friend'.

Marionette gave a small chime as he released his sketch filled notebook and took ahold of Mike's hand. He squeezed it affectionately and turned his head to kiss the back, briefly noticing the gold watch on his wrist. He could feel the immediate flash of warmth; Mike was still wearing his gift. To know that he took that much pleasure out of it made the Puppet rather happy.

"Don't be too late," Marionette instructed in a lightly playful tone. "I'll be watching the clock."

"Not too closely, I hope," Mike retorted with smugness as he started to draw back. He then turned to head to the door.

"I love you," Marionette called over the couch. Mike stopped in place, quietly standing there. It wasn't the first time Marionette had said it and yet the reaction was strange. The Puppet peered over the back of the couch, watching Mike eventually pull himself together and approach the front door. Apparently, he had stopped trying to formulate a response.

"…Sorry about cutting our night short," Mike apologized, "but I'll make it up to you when I get home. Promise." He sent him back a strangely forced smile and headed out the front door.

* * *

Hickory, Dickory, and Doc's Funcade made a perfect first impression. It was a lone building sitting on the side of the highway, surrounded by desert, and almost entirely illuminated from the inside. Mike parked his car in the almost entirely empty parking lot and stepped out before heading inside the unlocked front door.

It was certainly vibrant with color and much larger than he could've expected. Just in the entrance alone was a front desk and a prize corner stuck to the immediate left. Rows of arcade machines and various skill games were so packed in that they created a maze of halls through the building. A large ball pit connected with a set of plastic tunnels that climbed to the roof. In the way-back he could see what looked like a stage with drawn curtains.

Just seeing the inside of Hickory's caused immediate confusion. Foxy's was doing great and nobody had mentioned anything about this place, as though it wasn't viable competition, but it obviously was. Mike got about ten feet further, staring at the maze of machines, when he was alerted to footsteps. Instead of a woman, as he expected by the phone call, there was a man in a jumpsuit. He looked about sixty and had salt and pepper hair; though there was a bit more salt than pepper.

"You must be the new night guard. Welcome aboard," the man greeted with a shake of the hand. "Sandy couldn't be here tonight, so I'm going to run you through with everything."

"Sounds fine by me," Mike assured. "Matt Fezzmen."

"Chauncey Evans, call me Chance," the man introduced as he turned and headed into the back. Mike could only furrow his brows in suspicion, wondering if this just happened to be the same Chance that he had been told about. He shrugged it off, realizing the unlikeliness, and followed behind the older man. "I'm just the technician, so I can't give you much of an insight on the paperwork side of things, but I've got time to show you around if you finish off the paperwork quickly." He checked his watch, "But I need to be out of here by Midnight."

As though the fact that the place was unheard of wasn't a bad sign alone. Mike had a suspicion that this wasn't going to be the quiet night that was being suggested. In the further back of the arcade, hidden out of immediate view, was a sort of makeshift 'office'. More so, it seemed to be either a token or ticket booth that was just being used as a place for him to sit. There was a back wall with a door, a wall on the right side with a covered vent, and a left 'wall' made of the backs of game machines and the grating between them and the office.

A sturdy desk sat in the middle and pointed out at rest of the arcade. It was topped with a monitor, a container of pens, and a bowl of cheap looking candy. It was all rather basic, but at least looked cleaner than some of the offices that Mike had worked in during the past. A small stack of papers and a folded uniform jacket were sitting in the chair, which Chance retrieved.

"Here's your uniform. Just throw it over what you have on," Chance instructed as Mike did so. "Here's an identification pin. Just in case someone comes in and doesn't immediately recognize the suit. There's some things in the desk; flashlight, batteries, whatever you'll need." Then he handed over the paperwork. It was basic fair, but Mike had to extensively lie; lived in the state, worked previously as a mall security guard, never worked with animatronics before, and heard about Hickory's through a relative- they would be none the wiser.

Then he came to the confidentiality agreement. It proceeded a group of papers about the risks associated with the job and punctuated the point exactly. Mike clicked the pen a few times, "I don't really have to sign this, do I? Who exactly is going to want to know that I'm spending my nights sitting in an office?" Mike covered his reluctance to sign with innocent sounding banter.

"Yeah, you do. If you don't, they'll withhold your paycheck," Chance pointed out. He sounded almost exasperated, "I know by experience." He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Mike signed the paper with the pen unclicked, leaving no ink in its wake and going unnoticed by the older man. "This is what happens when you don't get a job with a pension plan," Chance lamented before gesturing to the jacket. "Put that on and I'll show you around."

With Mike in uniform and Chance satisfied with everything so far, he led him back to the middle of the arcade. "This is the main stage. Hickory, Dickory, and Doc are all behind that curtain there. I'm not going to open it this late, but you'll see them eventually." He then pointed down towards the front door, "Front entrance and the prize exchange." Then he pointed down the path by the ball pit, "The kitchen is down that way. You don't need to go in there; everything's shut off and empty."

Chance led back towards the office, explaining as he went, "Most of the overhead lights will be off, but the lights in the kitchen, the prize exchange, and your office will be on." He stopped by the entrance to the office. "Bathrooms are back there, back door is on that wall, and this-," Chance tapped on a white box on the wall, "is the thermostat. It stays on seventy. If it changes then you're going to start feeling it." That was a particularly odd statement, but Mike didn't have time to ask before he continued.

"The door behind your desk is just a supply closet, so don't worry about going in there for anything. Your shift begins at Midnight on the dot and ends at five-twenty. Don't ask why that time exactly; that's management's decision." Chance hesitated in a suspicious manner, looking almost a bit guilty, but didn't continue with it. "You'll get a call with more on what you need to do closer to Midnight, so I'm taking off. Good luck," Chance finished as he almost hastily headed for the front door.

The entire tour and explanation was so rushed, like he couldn't wait to get out of the arcade, and Mike had a sinking feeling that his suspicions were confirmed.

That sinking feeling was followed by a shameful giddiness. It wasn't going to be a false lead. This was the real deal.

Preparation was key in this sort of situation. Mike waited until he was certain Chance had drove off before heading out to his car to grab a bag of potato chips and a soda. He hoped it would be enough to keep him comfortable for the night, especially if it was going to be a quitter night. He didn't know if the Monday rule would still be in play here, but it seemed possible.

A few minutes before Midnight, the main lights automatically shut off. Mike acknowledged it, but was pleasantly surprised to see that the arcade wasn't nearly as pitch dark as expected. Some of the arcade cabinets weren't shut down and between them and the few lights, the shadows weren't as daunting as they could have been. Mike glanced to the monitor and quickly clicked through the cameras. There were seven cameras that most pointed to the shadows, but nothing moving on any of them. It was all silent.

Before Mike could really get comfortable, his phone started to play the 'Toreador March' in alert of a call. He slipped it out and answered, "Hello?"

" _Hi! My name is Jennifer and I would like to welcome you to the Funcade family! We're so happy to have you on the payroll!"_

"Ah, Phone Girl," Mike remarked matter-of-factly. That was just a natural reaction to a bubbly voice chiming assurances on the phone.

" _Huh?"_ Though Mike didn't realize that it wasn't a recording until now.

"I… Sort of assumed that you were a recording," Mike admitted with an awkward cough. "Nice to hear your voice, Jen. Chance said you were going to call."

" _Oh, yeah, I could see that- it's Jennifer- but I'm just calling in to give you an idea about what you're supposed to do tonight. Did you fill out your paperwork?"_ He agreed; he knew she was really inquiring about the confidentiality agreement.  _"Great! Wonderful, so we can get started. We only have a few minutes before you get started, so let's just get this out of the way… You're here to keep an eye on the animatronics."_

"I had a hunch." Mike wanted to just nudge this along. The girl was obviously beating around the bush and they were wasting valuable time.

" _To be absolutely frank with you, the animatronics are kept on all night… And they tend to wander around the arcade after Midnight- you signed the non-disclosure agreement, right?"_ He gave another false assurance.  _"Okay, so… The animatronics are going to come off their stage and wander through the arcade. Your job is just to monitor and make sure they don't damage the equipment. Sometimes these guys get a little rowdy after Midnight."_

"Should I be worried about them coming in here and 'damaging the equipment'?" Mike cheekily asked. As though he didn't know the answer, but expected a watered-down version of it.

" _Unfortunately, yes… You probably noticed all of those injury clauses in the paperwork,"_  Jennifer seemed uncomfortable,  _"and this is because the animatronics get confused at night. They have attacked night guards in the past, which is why we go through so many… But before you get the wrong idea, no, nobody's been seriously injured. Ah… One guy broke an arm, but usually they're tame. You just need to keep them out of the office and away from you, without letting them do anything crazy… Bear with me, this isn't the easiest thing to get out there."_

A small thump alerted Mike who peered out into the arcade. He checked the monitors, flipping through the cameras and trying to find the source of the noise. "Something's moving around out there," Mike forewarned in a lower voice as he retrieved the flashlight out of the desk. "There's only three of these guys, right?"

" _Uh, no. Hickory, Dickory, Doc's boasts a proud collection of_ _ **eight**_ _animatronics. Usually, though, only three of them are active tonight. They get a slow start on Monday."_ There was a strange noise coming from off in the arcade. It almost sounded like the sound of a shower curtain being pushed open. Mike flipped onto the camera by the show stage and, unsurprisingly, there was the curtain being drawn back. He could see a rat shaped face peering through; cartoonish looking with a goofy smile and dark glasses.  _"It's really touch and go, I promise."_

Mike felt his pulse begin to race, but not out of fear. He wasn't afraid of some stumbling animatronic, not after the things that he had seen. He knew what threatening animatronics were; these things were just jokes. Yet he still felt himself getting a rush out of it. "Just give me a heads up on what I'm dealing with tonight and I'll handle it."

" _Oh… Eager. Okay. I sort of expected you to immediately quit. They'd have me come over there and fill in if you did, so I'm pretty glad you didn't."_ She moved the phone around for a moment.  _"Hickory and Dickory will probably come off their stage and wander around the arcade. They're effectively blind because of their glasses, but they aren't dangerous. You could knock them over and they wouldn't care."_ This almost sounded safe, but was ruined when Jennifer continued onwards.  _"But if they touch, hear, or figure out you're there, so will Doc."_

The first mouse, a brown colored one, stepped down from the stage. Mike looked out from the office and in the distance could see it pass by and head towards the front entrance. "And Doc's dangerous?"

" _Doc's dangerous,"_ Jennifer assured.  _"…And fast, but blind enough. If he somehow comes out, just hide under your desk or something. That's what the last guy did."_ Mike took a breath to ask when she continued,  _"And he quit. It's just like taming a couple of animals; it's only dangerous if you goof off."_

"Right, I'll take that to heart," Mike added in with blunt skepticism. "Thanks for the help, but I need to start the shift."

" _Good luck out there! Remember, your shift ends at five-twenty. Try not to fall asleep!"_ With that, the girl ended the call, and Mike slipped the phone back into his pocket. Though he wasn't anymore assured by the end of the call.

" _What exactly happens at five-twenty and why do they want me out of here when it happens?"_ Mike asked himself, looking back to the monitor. The brown mouse animatronic, he guessed this was Hickory, was now stumbling near the front door. Back at the stage, the curtain was still open enough that a second mouse, which looked almost identical to the first one except that it was grey, stepped out and began to wander. To Mike's dismay, it turned and headed straight towards the office he was seated inside.

If Jennifer had been right about one thing, it was the lesser risk. Dickory seemed to not notice him and wandered around without aggression or really any drive at all. It stepped into the office only for a moment before stepping out again and heading down the hall towards the bathrooms. All in all, they were almost entirely nonthreatening, and Mike started to get settled in.

Time ticked away rather slowly. Especially considering that he was only minimally fighting for his life. By time it was one in the morning, he had almost entirely stopped watching the monitors and instead relied on his eyes and ears to alert if Hickory or Dickory was circling around again. Eating the chips seemed to lure them closer, so the bag was rolled up and abandoned on the corner of the desk. Mike was leaned back in his office chair, so bold as to kick his feet up and break open a magazine found in the desk, when a new sound alerted him.

It was oddly enough the fan on the wall that caught his attention. Up until now it had been largely quiet and gave only a dull hum to show that it was working, but it suddenly gave a groan and kicked on a bit stronger. Mike looked over and caught tan and blue out of the corner of his eye. There, slumped at the edge of the office wall, was an animatronic that looked like a puppet boy. It had blue, striped clothing, a wide and toothy smile, and seemed to somewhat resemble what he had seen of the Balloon Boy animatronic.

Mike squinted slightly and studied the animatronic that was slumped against the wall. It stared at him, but wasn't seemingly doing anything. That being said, he didn't want to look away and risk giving it time to come closer. After a few minutes, he was forced to check the monitor, and out of the corner of his eye he could see it disappear behind the wall. He didn't know whether he was horrified at how fast it moved or simply relieved that it had moved on. He then had a period of respite.

Though in the following hour or so without activity, Mike was starting to face a different problem. More specifically, how hot it was getting inside of the arcade. It wasn't noticeable for a while, but by time Mike had finished his soda, removed his jacket, and still felt overheated he decided that something was wrong, and he knew exactly where the check.

"That little, wooden brat," Mike muttered as he narrowed his gaze on the obviously changed thermostat. " _How did he even reach it?! If it floats too, I'm pretty much screwed."_ But while the boy animatronic was a pest, it was also not a threat, leaving Mike still feeling rather safe in an arcade that was not safe. He eventually spotted the boy and Hickory in the prize exchange, along with a third animatronic that he could only see the arm of. It looked more humanoid from the brief glimpse he did get.

Monday night continued to be uneventful. Hickory and Dickory eventually moved in closer to the office, but seemed largely unwilling to enter it. The temperature had also returned to a more comfortable one. All in all, he expected to coast through the rest of his first night. By four in the morning, Mike was starting to grow groggy. It had been so long since he had last worked the night shift that even with his earlier nap he was feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. While the mice animatronics were still wandering outside of the office, the boy animatronic returned.

Mike caught sight of it peering out from behind the wall. The moment he did, it vanished once again, but he knew he would have to check the thermostat again. He rolled his eyes, stood, and headed over to fix the change again. It was annoying but wasn't dangerous- unless he was at a risk of overheating- but this changed abruptly.

Suddenly, Dickory swerved around the corner and bumped straight into the security guard. The mouse animatronic came to a halt and stood blankly, making no attempt to grab or attack Mike. Instead, something else decided to suddenly announce its presence.

There was a guttural groan from the distant show stage which was followed by thundering footsteps. A heavy thump sounded as whatever it was jumped down from the stage and began to beeline to the office. The floor seemed to shake and another cry, a higher pitched groan, alerted of the coming threat.

With a choke, Mike dove behind the desk and fit himself underneath it. The heavy footsteps rushed in before stopping in front of the desk. The animatronic's heavy fists slammed down on the office desk hard enough that Mike was shocked that it didn't crack. He could hear the pens fall over and saw the empty soda can hit the floor. Then it was all silent, even as the animatronic lingered over the desk. Everything went still and completely silent. His pulse was pounding in his ears, but Mike slid down to peer underneath the desk.

The animatronic had feet just like Hickory and Dickory did, so Mike could only assume that it was Doc. The only obvious difference that he could identify from such a small glimpse was that its 'fur' was beige, so he couldn't tell if it looked any more intimidating than the other mice. The animatronic drug its hands along the desk and knocked off the potato chip bag as they dropped to its side. Then it stiffly turned and began to walk from the office.

Eventually, Mike heard the thumping as it climbed onto its stage again. He then dared to climb back onto his chair and checked the monitor. He could see nothing; the shadows and curtain obscured the aggressive animatronic from view.

"That was close," Mike muttered as he stared out at the arcade.  _"Considering that the others barely moved in the last five hours."_ Thankfully, Dickory moved on too, which meant that he wasn't going to get stuck with a repeat of what just happened. Either way, Mike stayed on higher alert as he waited for the rest of his shift to end. The last twenty minutes were the most difficult and Mike was partially concerned about driving himself home.

Then five-twenty hit and before Mike could even prepare to leave, the power died in the arcade.

It was a jarring change. Mike tried to see through the darkness as he heard movement nearby. Footsteps quickened and there were more of them as more animatronics started to come out of their hiding spots. However, Mike had been given the cue to leave, and decided that the best option was to sneak out the back. He felt along the hall beside the office and followed towards the back. It was easy to get confused, especially as he could hear rapid footsteps thunder into the office where he just was, but his hand eventually touched a cold doorknob and turned.

The security guard stumbled down an uncomfortably tall step and into the employee parking. The door shut behind him and locked. His shift was over.

Mike didn't waste a moment to get back to his car and start driving home. He thought that he would have this time to contemplate what he had witnessed, but the sudden change of sleep schedule had left his mind slow and he had to use all his focus to get himself back home. He would decide whether to go back once he was rested. As though he needed rest to answer that question when he was already at risk.

The sun was already rising when Mike pulled into the driveway. He slipped off the uniform top and tossed it into the backseat floorboard before exiting the car and heading inside. As expected, Marionette was not there to greet him and was probably still sleeping. When Mike made it to the bedroom and found Marionette missing, he assumed that he had slept in his box, but was too tired to go wake him. He sent a weary look at the alarm clock, due to wake him in only a few hours, and collapsed onto the bed. Everything came to an abrupt halt.

The alarm did rouse him right on schedule. Mike felt heavy as the throbbing chiming echoed through the bedroom. With a low groan, Mike started to push himself upwards from the pillows and tried to comprehend how he fell asleep face down. Half of his face already felt numb and he was just clouded enough to question if last night was just a strange dream.

Before he could reach for the alarm, it was abruptly shut off. A hand rested on his back and pressed him back down, coaxing him to lay down again. Mike didn't fight it. He could feel as Marionette tugged the blanket up over him and briefly lingered to pet his head in assurance. He didn't yet ask questions but Mike knew he would, just not yet. For now, he would let the Puppet handle it; he could feel the moment when Marionette teleported out of the room and guessed that he was heading to the pizzeria without him. That was fine with Mike.

He would come up with a believable story later. For now, he needed a few more hours of sleep.

* * *

Any semblance of a pattern with Ennard had been halted. While Scott wished he could pick up on one, Ennard was showing itself entirely unpredictable.

Scott woke in the morning to find Ennard gone and from this assumed that he was in the garage, but then the animatronic randomly appeared about an hour later, walked into the kitchen, walked out of the kitchen, and returned to the garage. Scott didn't know whether to be curious about what it wanted from the kitchen or just relieved that it wasn't interested in engaging him.

Unfortunately, Ennard didn't wait for nighttime like Scott had hoped. Halfway through the afternoon, and while Scott was on the phone with a client no less, Ennard appeared in the doorway and began to stare him down. It was enough to cause Scott's voice to waver and sputter relentlessly. It just stared with that blank, unyielding gaze with glassy, blue eyes. Yet what was the most uncomfortable part of all was that Ennard had been eerily silent since the confession the night before. It had not said a single word to Scott.

By time Scott had ended the call, Ennard was gone. He assumed that it headed back into the garage and returned to work, finishing up what he could as fast as he could. Then he stopped to check on the kittens. By now they had opened their eyes, but they were still young and clumsy, and needy, and much too small to be anywhere near Ennard. Scott had made sure to keep his bedroom door shut and the kittens hidden away. His cats were fine with entering through the bathroom anyway, so it didn't raise any issues.

Until Ennard appeared again. It boldly opened the door and stood in the doorway to watch the human. Scott was stuck between an uncomfortable crouch, a silent animatronic, and his kittens. He set the runt down into the cat bed and tried to stand with as little awkwardness as possible. Then he turned back to see that, again, Ennard had left. It continued to just pop up, say nothing, and leave shortly afterwards. Perhaps it was some sort of game. Maybe, in some confusing way, Ennard was purposefully doing this to get Scott to initiate the conversation.

Surprisingly enough, it worked. Having Ennard wandering around silently was just enough to push him to start to speak. Scott waited uncomfortably in his office, distracting himself with paperwork as he waited for the animatronics to pass by once again. His hands were shaking and he knew that he needed his medication, but decided to hold off a little longer, wanting to get this out of the way first.

He heard the footsteps as it approached and stood in the doorway. Scott looked over, awkwardly braced himself, and then spoke, "Hey, uh… You've been quiet today." Ennard didn't say anything. "If it's because of last night's talk… I don't think you're broken, Ennard." Maybe it was him, but Ennard seemed to perk. Maybe because of his comment or maybe because he used its name. "Neither of us are broken, so let's not dwell on it, okay?"

"Sounds great!"

Scott immediately recoiled at the upbeat response. Not because of the tone, but because Ennard's soft, feminine voice had completely changed. Suddenly, Ennard was speaking with a higher pitch. It was a masculine voice instead of feminine and instead sounded unnerving. It was almost dangerous; he could see a murderous clown with a similar voice.

"Why… Why is your voice different? You changed it?" Scott assumed. He hoped with every fiber of his being that this wasn't a permanent thing. Or worse, that this was the animatronic's true voice.

"I wanted to try this one!" Ennard chirped, following with what was a very unsettling laugh. "Have you heard of Funtime Freddy?"

"…Sure, yeah." It took a few moments, but Scott vaguely remembered the 'Funtime' animatronics. Though all that he had seen were sketches of Chica, Freddy, and Foxy before he was abruptly cut off from the informational feed. "I never saw him, but I know something about him."

"This is his voice," Ennard explained. "I think he would've liked you. I know I do!" That affectionately bold proclamation was in sharp contrast to how Ennard stiffly stared at the man with no movement. Physically, it was moving as usual, but the voice expressed an entirely different emotion. It was such a contrast to the calm and hesitant personality that it expressed with its feminine voice. As though the personality changed as fast as the voice did.

Scott hoped that this wasn't the case. He really hoped that it only seemed that way.

"I thought you'd like it more. I didn't want to use  _her_ voice forever," Ennard admitted. "Do you like it?"

"S-Sure! It's- It's something," Scott insisted.

"That doesn't sound very convincing." This voice made it sound so much more patronizing.

"No, just- It's me. I need my medication," Scott added in. It wasn't actually a lie and he stood, walking to the door, and brushed past Ennard and into the bathroom. "J-Just give me a second, okay?" He got ahold of his bottle and fumbled with it. He didn't really want to take it with tap water and shuffled past Ennard again, who now seemed to be purposefully getting in the way.

"Is it the broken inside that make you shake?" Ennard inquired. It tilted its head and for the first time today its actions and voice seemed to sync. The voice still sounded entirely inappropriate for the scenario, but there seemed to be some sort of concern there regardless. "A human endoskeleton? Can they not replace it?"

"It doesn't work like that." He was becoming exasperated as he entered the kitchen and went for a bottle of juice. "It's not like the leg. I can't just-."

"How did you lose your leg?" There was no denying it; this voice was terrible. It had somehow made what was an uncomfortable situation so much worse by turning something calm and passive into- well, Funtime Freddy. That blunt question was just enough to trip Scott up. He silently took his medicine, Ennard waited expectantly in the doorway and blocked him in, and the man looked back with the same desperation.

Though this time, Scott found his voice working before his brain could respond. Ennard was just so persistent that Scott couldn't help but be blunt.

"An animatronic did this to me," Scott said. He said it with as little bitterness as he could muster, because it wasn't  _this_ animatronic's fault. "I was work-working the nightshift and was caught by a group of animatronics which th-then decided to drag me into the back… And forced me into a suit… And that's it." Shockingly, his voice stuttered less in this reveal of the horrific event. As though it was waiting to come out and wouldn't be halted. "It ruined… My night." He wouldn't say his life; he wasn't broken.

Yet Ennard was still staring and studying. It probably didn't understand any of it.

"I just- I don't want to focus on it. I don't want to constantly remember that I- That I'm different," Scott tried to explain. He then grabbed for a bag of cookies as he felt hunger driven by stress. Right as he got the bag open and was prepared to shove a chocolate chip cookie into his mouth.

This triggered another period of silence that Scott alleviated with crunching. He made the sudden decision to escape to his bedroom, lock the door, and hopefully stay there until Ennard made its rounds back into the garage. He made the move to slide by as he had before, but he was only halfway past when metal clamped on his arm.

The metal wires wrapped around his upper arm and tightened until it was obvious that he couldn't squeeze his arm out. It was silent and heavy.

"Ennard… Could you please let go?" Scott tried to convince. Yet the wires only tightened like a vice. "Y-You're starting to hurt me here, let go." The wires didn't budge he dropped the bag and involuntarily grabbed at the wires on his arm. He had tried to stay calm, but the panic was starting to set in. He dug his fingers under the wires and tried to pry them off. "Ennard,  _let go_."

"They used to force me inside a suit too," Ennard randomly announced. Its voice was low and underneath the false Freddy tone it echoed something strange, like a crackling or a static. A heavy breathing sort of tone, but it sounded more like a voice glitch than it did trying to mimic heavy breathing. "But they weren't like me, they were like you. They were humans, not animatronics."

"I'm sorry," Scott meekly responded. The tightness on his arm had stilled his confidence. While made of wires, this thing's grip was strong enough along to do whatever damage it wanted.

"Why would you be sorry?" The voice returned to a higher pitch, bubbling with that pretend giddiness that only something created by Afton could fake. "You didn't do that to me. You didn't force me into a body." Then it went remarkably quiet for a few seconds. No breathing, no crackles, just silence. "And I didn't force you into that suit."

Scott was taken aback that Ennard had been leading up to something. Now hearing it, it was almost a sort of comfort, but the vice grip was still on his arm. He gave a small fidget and in response the animatronic's wires retracted from its hold. "Uh… Thanks," Scott answered out of reflex, massaging over his arm where the wires had help. Scott couldn't look the amalgam in the eyes and just said whatever he thought needed to be said, trying to treat the animatronic like he would treat another human.

"You don't have to be afraid of me," Ennard spoke. Its voice fully returned to the uncanny chirping of earlier. "I wouldn't hurt  _you_."

The man nodded stiffly. His medication hadn't yet started working so the trembles were still there, though not as painful as they were earlier, and the threat level had dropped dramatically. Maybe for the first time, Ennard was truly acting like another real person. Even with the voices and the personality shift, he could emphasize with the animatronic.

Scott let his guard down a bit more.


	68. Chapter 68

"If Mari asks, I was at your house between one and six."

The command was just sudden enough to take Jeremy off guard. He fixed his glasses absentmindedly before asking, "Why?"

"Because I spent the night at Phone Guy's and if he finds out, he'll get the wrong idea," Mike explained. Here he was lying again; it didn't feel good, but it was a necessary evil. He kept his voice lower so that none of the nearby patrons would hear him. "Do you mind?"

"Uh… No, okay. No problem… But I won't have details," Jeremy pointed out. "Do I just-?"

"Only if he asks, you don't need details," Mike assured. "I'm going to let Marionette marinate for a while and then I'll tell him around the end of shift…" He fixed his hat in a way like how Jeremy fiddled with his glasses. "And then I'll figure out what to tell him when I leave tonight."

"You're going  _back_ to Phone Guy's?" Jeremy asked in confusion. This changed into concern, "What's going on over there?"

"Baby drama," Mike quipped, then looked out of the corner of his eye at Jeremy. "And as far as I know, Marionette doesn't know, nor does he want to know, where Baby is."

"Well… It's good you're helping then…" For the first time since the conversation started, Mike felt genuinely bad about this web he was weaving. Yet he knew he had to keep the story up for the rest of the week. He was willing to quit on Saturday or Sunday, but the rest of the week would involve dodging questions and accusations. He would have to make due with something.

Mike dismissed himself and passed through the dining hall to keep an eye on the surplus of visitors. There were still only a few birthdays, but plenty of kids and adults were crowding the building. It wasn't really like there were many other venues in town that were aimed at children and this left the pizzeria at a mark advantage. Both Foxy and Marionette were out wandering the pizzeria and working as hard as they could to visit all the children. Marionette especially, who was balancing between the mass of children and his young fangirl.

Marionette brushed by him briefly; a subtle gesture, but an attentive one regardless. It showed that he was still paying attention to Mike at least. These motions became more frequent by six o'clock, when the children started to leave and the amount of customers started to slow down. He would pass by with an affectionate chime and brief squeeze to his arm, then leave to continue servicing the children. It was obvious that he was concerned after the night before and while Mike liked the attention, he knew that there would be questioning, and he hated having to lie to him.

Once it neared closing, the Puppet mostly avoided Mike until the end of the workday; he was too busy trying to take the load off Foxy to have time to question Mike about anything. Eventually, the doors closed and cleaning began.

Mike knew he was going to get cornered, but he had to tend to a spilled cup of ice cream in the prize corner. Some young boy had dropped it while exchanging tickets and now the melted, vanilla cream was just another thing to make the floor sticky. As he scrubbed at the floor with a small hand brush, he made light conversation. "I think the ice cream is probably the biggest mistake we made. We're just going to have to tack something in the doorway that says not to bring food in."

"I'm not sure if that will fix our problem. Children aren't necessarily known for listening to taped papers with rules on them," Marionette remarked in amusement. "I don't suppose you saw Freddy's own?" Mike nodded, as he had seen the strange list that was mounted at the pizzeria. "I can assure you that each of those rules were broken at least once." The look of disgust on the security guard's face was enough to cause Marionette to chime with laughter.

The Puppet rested his head on his hands, with his arms propped on the edge of his box. "So, what happened last night? You were out quite late," Marionette pointed out. "It had to be six or seven in the morning when you got home."

"Yeah, about that… I was over at Phone Guy's and it got late, so I crashed at Jeremy's," Mike excused as he continued to clean. "Phone Guy's been having his problems."

"I know," Marionette bluntly remarked. However, it didn't necessarily sound like an agreement, but a statement. Mike hesitated in his work and glanced over.

"You know?" Mike inquired back.

"I think you know that I already do," Marionette quietly answered as he slid down against the edge of the box. "And I know what you really were doing last night."

With an inward wince, Mike gave a weary sigh and set everything aside. His full attention was now on the Puppet. "How'd you find out?"

"It wasn't too hard, and as much as I rather not know, I figured it out rather quickly." Marionette rested on his crossed arms and peered at his human companion. "And while you already know what my thoughts would be- and while I'm not certain of your reasons- I'm sure you have them."

"I should've known. Can't hide anything from you," Mike agreed with a slight smile. "But you… You're fine with it?"

"I don't know how I feel, to be honest," Marionette admitted. "I cannot forgive her and I will not speak to her… But no animatronic deserves to be refused of repairs. After seeing Chipper's, after seeing some of the animatronics I have in the past, I won't stand in the way of it. Letting an animatronic's body go is the worst form of abuse one can inflict on an animatronic."

Mike blinked and it hit him that Marionette was not talking about Hickory Dickory's, but Baby. Marionette was talking about knowing about Baby at Phone Guy's; Mike was back to hiding the truth.

"What was wrong with her?" Marionette quietly asked. His voice was a bit quieter and he seemed to be covering his emotions again, if his suddenly 'off' smile was any indication.

"What's not wrong with Baby?" Mike stalled. "But more specifically, Baby's got her wires in a twist. Phone Guy's not handling any of it very well- You know how scared he is of everything."

"Indeed, I do," Marionette chimed again as he straightened. "But I did worry about you. Especially after the state you were in when the alarm went off." He reached out and affectionately brushed over Mike's cheek.

"Just imagine a night on Jeremy's couch- and I mean alone with three Minireenas and one Magician with a bad sense of humor," Mike clarified vaguely. He would prefer not to directly lie. "But I'm fine now. You don't have to worry about me, Doll."

"But if I don't, who will?" Marionette remarked matter-of-factly with a playfulness on his tone. "You have everyone else fooled, Mr. Schmidt." The Puppet had this joking tone in his voice, "but you can't hide from me." Mike didn't know if that was a challenge or if it was just naïve bliss. Neither of which made Mike feel very confident.

But Marionette let him leave again that evening, so Mike felt bad regardless.

* * *

This time, Mike made sure he was sitting in his office chair well before Midnight. A bottle of water and a few candy bars were shoved into the top drawer; he supposed both would work better than the soda and the chips from the night before. His fingers tapped on the top of the desk as he waited for Midnight to hit. The lights powered down and he was thrown into semi-darkness once more. Shortly afterward, his cell phone rang, and Mike answered it quickly. "Hello, hello?"

" _Hello, hello yourself. Welcome to Tuesday,"_ Jennifer greeted him. She sounded a bit less tense than the night before.  _"I'm hoping you're ready for tonight."_

"I will be once you tell me why there was a little boy in here changing the thermostat. You didn't mention that was going to happen," Mike pointed out. If she purposely hid it from him, he was going to confront her directly.

" _Oh, Boy Blue was out? He's pretty unpredictable; sometimes he's there in the beginning of the week, sometimes the end, and sometimes he stays off all week. He's not dangerous,"_ she assured.

"I consider heat stroke dangerous enough," Mike responded, "but that's fine. What's the real danger tonight?"

She paused for a few seconds and she shuffled over the phone.  _"Tonight's Tuesday, so it looks like you'll be dealing with Bo. You'll need a flashlight or some balled up pieces of paper, or a broom."_

"I have a flashlight," Mike said.

" _Alright, that'll work. So, there's two animatronics that become active tonight… And of course, Hickory, Dickory, and Doc will still be on the loose- apparently Boy Blue as well. Which is not a good thing, because Boy Blue tends to exasperate the sheep situation,"_  Jennifer admitted. She then pulled back onto track,  _"Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep and she's going to be searching for them both around the arcade."_

There was a thump as Hickory stepped down from the stage and headed out towards the front. Mike watched him go and checked the cameras to make sure he was distracted somewhere up there.

" _There's two sheep, but only one is going to be here tonight. It's a small animatronic that wanders around and doesn't do much. It will try to get into your office and hide under your desk if it can. If it does, Bo Peep will follow, and she's not friendly to people who get too close to her sheep. She's only dangerous if the sheep gets into your office, so shine a light, throw something- just get the sheep out of there and you're good,"_ Jennifer sounded confident enough on this front. Mike wasn't sure if she had suddenly become a good liar or was being honest.

"Alright, I'll handle it," Mike agreed. Then he leaned back in the office chair and played with a new idea. "Ever hear of a place called Freddy Fazbear's Pizza?" Jennifer went deathly silent for a few seconds. "Ran out of Utah. It was sort of like this place-."

" _Don't know anything about that,"_ Jennifer rapidly denied.  _"So, I'll let you go-."_

"How about this place- Where is it-?" Mike pretended to look for something. "Here we go; Afton Robotics? Ever hear of that place? I hear they build animatronics there."

" _Huh, that's… Something,"_ Jennifer seemed to be growing increasingly uncomfortable. " _But I need to go. You're going to talk your way into a visit from one of the characters."_ It was obvious that Jennifer had no intention to continue spilling information. So, Mike finished the call and hung up.

" _So, we're in agreement?"_ Mike asked himself as he turned his attention to the monitor.  _"She knows something, but might be contractually obligated not to say anything... Or she knows nothing and just isn't into me."_ That was probably for the best. He didn't know if Marionette would be more upset about; him sneaking around with other animatronics or him having daily chats with a random woman. Knowing Marionette, it would probably be the former, as he always seemed to become so protective when strange animatronics were involved.

Then Bo Peep appeared on screen. He caught sight of her standing outside of the prize corner and recognized her arm as the one he saw the night before. She resembled a human, though not nearly as human looking as something like Ballora. Her face was too round and her proportions were slightly off. Unlike Ballora as well, her clothing wasn't entirely molded on. The upper chest was molded to resemble a blouse while she had on a short, hoop skirt that seemed to be sealed into a crack at the waist.

She had a flimsy, blonde wig that looked patchy at best and was seeing to lose its curls over the years, only held on by an old bonnet. Pale 'skin', big, blue eyes, faded cheeks of pink, and wide, flat feet; a basic design. She wasn't anything special, but he did notice that she was walking a bit faster than both Hickory and Dickory. Mike flipped through the cameras before hearing some movement by the thermostat. Looking over, he could see the boy animatronic, Boy Blue, slumped by the thermostat. Mike shined his flashlight over and Boy Blue vanished around the corner.

Then the security guard hurried over to fix the thermostat. As expected, Boy Blue had again turned it to the highest setting, but this time Mike was able to catch it in time. Though as he did, something small and fast suddenly darted by.

"Hey!" Mike reflexively pulled his flashlight back out and flickered it over the office. There, only about a foot tall and zooming around on wheels connected to unmoving legs, was a small sheep. "I see you down there. Get out of here!" He followed the sheep with his flashlight and it circled the desk before taking off towards the kitchen. "And thus, continues the pattern of the small ones being frustrating as hell," he muttered as he headed back to his seat. A new set of animatronics, a new thing to watch out for, but still a standard night.

Hickory entered the office halfway through two in the morning. He didn't directly approach the desk, but he wandered around in front of it, almost looking disoriented as he did so. Mike kept a careful eye on him as the animatronic wobbled about. The security guard considered trying to somehow ward it off, when something thumped against his foot. There was the sheep stopped against him, staring upwards with blue eyes, and Mike pushed it back.

Unfortunately, it rolled right back and bumped Hickory's own foot. Hickory dropped his head, vaguely stared in the sheep's direction, and a loud groan echoed from the show stage.

"For the love of-," Mike cut off with an impatient exhale and slid underneath the desk. He glared underneath the desk at the sheep, which was still stuck against Hickory's foot, as the thundering footsteps rushed in. Apparently, the sheep wasn't too fond of Doc, as it sped off the moment that the larger animatronic began to bang on the desk. Once Doc stalked off, Mike was back in his seat.

There was another period without much action. Boy Blue tried to sneak in again, but was detoured by the light from the flashlight. All in all, Hickory Dickory's was much less dangerous that Freddy's. Or, at least, it was during Tuesday night. By time it was pushing three o'clock, Mike was starting to feel stiff and bored. He quickly checked over the cameras and managed to find Hickory, Dickory, Bo Peep, and Boy Blue all clustered in a far corner by a flickering arcade cabinet. The sheep seemed to be stuck behind Dickory, who was closed in by Bo Peep, who was closed in by Hickory-.

They were out of commission, Mike assumed, and he stood to stretch his legs. The rest of the cameras showed an absolute lack of activity, showing that there weren't any other animatronics sneaking around, and it started to raise Mike's own confidence.  _"Just a short walk. It's not like I can't hide wherever anyway,"_ Mike assured himself as he stood and began to walk through the arcade. As he walked past the hallway he looked down towards where the animatronics were clustered and couldn't see them. Most likely, they were still stumbling over each other, and he quickened his pace.

The kitchen was dim, cold, and connected to a small dining room and a show stage. The miniature stage was shielded with a curtain and Mike went still to not awaken whatever hid behind. A few moments passed and nothing moved behind the curtain, so Mike assumed that whatever animatronic was still inactive. He glanced upwards at the sign above the stage and could see 'Poppy and Sly' printed on it, but there was little indication of what was hiding behind the curtain, and he wasn't exactly jumping to go see what waited back there.

Everything in the room looked untouched and was certainly not set up to serve in. Instead of tables and chairs, there was merely a half circle of chairs before the stage, pointing towards it. The kitchen was largely barren as well and everything had a layer of dust and a stagnant scent. He could believe that they had stopped using the kitchen for daily use from just this alone. There really wasn't anything too interesting hiding inside.

Mike knew couldn't leave the office for too long. Turning his back on the kitchen and dining room, Mike stepped back out into the arcade once more. He immediately froze at the sound of something scuttling above. He tilted his head back and stared at the plastic tunnel that led over the kitchen door. Something was climbing around inside, but in another stroke of luck, whatever it was seemed to be climbing deeper inside the plastic maze. Mike quickly continued to the office.

Then luck went south dramatically. At about ten feet away, Mike could see both Bo Peep and he sheep standing in the office and knew that he had been blocked off. He kept moving and headed down towards the front door before Bo Peep could see him. Best case scenario, he could waste a few hours at the prize counter and slip out the front at the end of his shift.

When Hickory was spotted lingering with the prizes, Mike took a sharp right and headed down one of the halls of arcade cabinets, intending to circle around and appear at the office. Slowly, he was starting to lose confidence in his idea to randomly stroll around the arcade while the animatronics were out, but until this point he still felt like they weren't as dangerous. They didn't seem to be as aggressive as anything that came out of Freddy's- especially nothing that had been found down in Afton's- and most of them were dull enough to walk around.

One of the arcade cabinets was alit with a game while staying muted. Mike sent a glance at it as he began to pass, then found himself slowing to a stop. 'The Three Blind Mice's Clock Race' was flashing in bold letters over the screen and underneath the title were three pixelated mice, seemingly 'dancing' by flipping left and right. However, the arcade machine was entirely silent.

" _Maybe they muted it to keep the animatronics from being lured over here? That would've made my job moderately easier,"_ Mike mentally accessed as he reached out to touch the start button. The screen flickered and changed to a character selection screen between the three. Mike chose Hickory and was reassured when the machine continued to remain silent as it revealed what looked like a large, dark brown tower covered in platforms.

" **Climb the clock!"** the game boldly proclaimed in large, colorful letters. Then a sort of timer started to count down in the top corner. Instead of normal numbering, it counted like a backwards clock. Twelve, then after a few seconds it changed to eleven-fifty, then to eleven-forty, and Mike pulled back long enough to check down both halls to make sure nobody was coming. Then he set the flashlight aside and rested his hands on the controls. He maneuvered Hickory to hop and climb the tower, watching as it slowly revealed a pendulum, reassuring that it was a clock.

In the bottom right was another sort of counter. Every ten platforms it would count up a number, so it was likely a ticket counter. Other than that, the game was rather basic, and time continued to tick down. The tower didn't seem to be ending anytime soon and he was prepared to continue until the counter hit zero. Six, five-fifty, five-forty, five-thirty, five-twenty-.

-and then the game suddenly stopped.

Hickory was frozen mid-jump and a dull static was beginning to eat at the edges of the screen. A low crackle made its way out of the belly of the cabinet and something flickered on the screen for a split second. The security guard leaned forward just a bit, as though captivated with whatever was happening on the screen. His eyes began to burn from the lack of blinking and he tightened his hands on the ridges of the cabinet. Another flash, a brief image of something pixelated that he couldn't register fast enough, and suddenly Mike's heartbeat started to quicken.

Panic tightened in his chest as he heard footsteps from somewhere. One of them was approaching, but Mike was nearly frozen. With this sudden realization, Mike yanked his hands back and took ahold of his body again, refusing to look back at the game screen again.

"It's me. This is all just me," he muttered under his breath as he grabbed the flashlight and headed around the corner.

Mike immediately stopped in his tracks when he found himself staring down at Dickory at the end of the hall. Deciding not to risk it, he turned around and walked past the arcade machine to head towards the front door. For a few moments it was clear, but then Hickory suddenly stepped out in his way. The animatronic stared down towards him and made a clicking noise, as though clicking its teeth. The security guard was suddenly cornered and he sent an accusatory glance towards the game cabinet, which had averted almost entirely to static.

" _It's too tight,"_ Mike muttered as he backed towards the corner where he could see both mice animatronics.  _"I try to get past either of them and Doc's going to see me."_ His focus shifted onto Dickory and, being that he was closest to the office, he became a possible target.  _"I could shove past Dickory and get to the office. Then Doc would be running back over here,"_ he mentally planned. This seemed like a good enough idea. If he did nothing the two would continue to move in and would eventually trap him in place. This was his only chance.

As Dickory took a heavy step, Mike rushed him and shoved into his side as he barged past. Thankfully, Dickory was slow, and made no attempt to grab the security guard. He didn't need to; something else was waiting in the next hall and leaned out right as the human passed. It grabbed him and yanked him close.

Bo Peep's face was suddenly shoved into Mike's and her eyes began to rush over his face, as though trying to identify him. Her hands were heavy and only tightened on his shoulder. She could've easily broke his bones, and Mike swung the flashlight into her right arm.

The right hand's grip released and Mike tried to run. He twisted himself in the animatronic's grip until the left hand released as well. Bo Peep let out a frustrated shriek as Mike stumbled back, then completely lost his footing when the sheep wedged itself behind his legs. Ignoring the fall on the unforgiving floor, Mike crawled back as Bo Peep started to move in. Her eyes retracted into her skull and left hollow, black holes with only specks of light in its place, making her only the more threatening.

The sheep was still there and Mike looked down at it before giving it a proper kick, sending it down the hall and thumping into the back of Dickory's leg. Bo Peep suddenly lost focus on Mike and followed the sheep with her gaze, then took a few steps after it. Mike got to his feet and broke into a sprint towards the office. He rounded the corner and hurried to the office entrance. Right there, right as he was about to get inside, a hulking form suddenly flew by with quick, heavy footsteps. It couldn't have been more than a few inches from him.

"Christ!" Mike blurted out. The animatronic didn't seem to be listening as it continued down towards the front door; obviously it was Doc and seemed to be more interested in where Hickory and Dickory had ran into the security guard.

Panting and on the verge of panic, Mike hurried into the office and instantly dove under the desk. This turned out to be a good decision as Doc appeared less than a few minutes later and began banging on the desk. It was enough to knock off the container of pens and rock the monitor. The shaking came to a halt soon afterwards, but this didn't mean that Doc was finished. Mike watched with dread as a hand tried to slide underneath the desk. It reached and grabbed around, but couldn't reach due to the odd angle that it had to bend over.

A few moments passed before it finally removed its hand stood back to full height. Doc then wandered back to the stage while Mike tried to slow down his heartrate. Eventually he felt comfortable enough to slide back into the chair and flipped through the monitor to check the animatronics.

That had been close.

That had been  _amazing_.

As foolish as it all was, as risky and dangerous as it had been, Mike felt the rush that he had been craving. He was nearly trembling with adrenaline and had just managed to skirt death yet again. Yet as amazing as the thrill was, Mike had his fill of the night and decided to stay in the office and continue his job as originally intended.

By time it turned five in the morning, Mike was ready to leave and did a last check on the monitors before heading to the back door. He timed it so that he would be standing by the backdoor when the power died. Then he stepped out when the building fell into darkness and shut the door before the sounds of footsteps could get any closer.

He arrived at home about the same time as the night before. Mike quickly tossed his things onto the table and headed back into the bedroom. From the cocoon of blankets balled up on half of the bed, it was clear that Marionette had decided not to sleep in his box tonight. The security guard softly sat down on the edge of the bed, trying not to rouse the animatronic as he kicked off his shoes. He considered taking a shower, but decided to wait when he realized that the sun would probably be up any minute now.

Then he considered getting changed into better clothes, but for a second time he just gave up on the idea and collapsed back onto the bed. So many unanswered questions, so many aggressive animatronics, too many more days left that he would be stuck in the arcade; eventually, the questions would come… But for tonight, Mike would ride off the high. Tomorrow he would have to figure the rest out.

He pulled the limp mound of blankets closet and took in the comforting warmth as his mind shut down.

* * *

It was strange that Ennard was still in the garage. It was sheer curiosity that led Scott to open said door and peer inside, but there was no sign of the animatronic except for the remains of Baby's shell. His eyes landed on the shell and he wandered closer to it.

"Ennard?" Scott quietly asked as he reached out and took ahold of Baby's face plates. He coaxed them open, but saw nothing inside. It certainly sounded like something was moving inside though, so he tried to look down through the neck and into the shell's abdomen. He caught a glimpse of wires somewhat down and the top of a metal head.

"Ennard? Are you asleep?" Scott asked as he tapped on the exterior. It almost vibrated through the partially hollow body. The metal head immediately slid downwards and wires slid to cover it protectively. A low voice spoke from deeper inside.

"Don't look at me," Ennard murmured. His voice wavered on Funtime Freddy's before immediately shifting back to the more feminine one. "I'm not together."

"It's not a problem. You've seen me not together all the way, you know," Scott pointed out before trying to coax the shell's front open a bit. "You didn't get up this morning…" He had a suspicion that Ennard might have been awake all night, but then again, he wasn't certain if Ennard needed to sleep at all. All the information he knew about these metal creations was being challenged daily.

The animatronic didn't reply beyond the shifting and burying of wires. Indeed, it didn't look 'put together' at all. "I need to come out. Will you go wait inside?"

"I can…But could I watch?" Scott inquired. He had never seen the other with its wires out of sorts and it made him a bit interested.

"I don't want you to see me. I'm not put together," Ennard stated more firmly. Its body shifted against the metal exterior and Scott caught sight of a white mask appearing from the bottom of the mound.

Scott knew better than to test any animatronic- nor human, but that was another story- and knew that he could be walking a tightrope. Yet he found himself too interested to deny. "…Please? I really- trust me, I don't care how it looks. I've seen so much worse; human things, blood and all."

There was a lingering pause. Then came a sort of voiceless sigh and the shell started to open.

Wires spilled out of the front and collapsed to the garage floor. It wasn't exactly what Scott was expecting and watching it twist and move was bizarre. A leg stepped out, wobbled, and then wires started to tighten and cling around it. A second leg and a torso stepped out from the shell as the wire arms started to twist and tighten together. It head hung down and purposefully looked away from Scott as it tried to move its mask over its face.

Minor disaster struck when it dropped the mask. Wires reached in a desperate struggle to grab the mask and Scott leaned down to grab it, "Here, I got it."

" _Don't look at me!"_ Ennard cried out in a sudden panic. Its voice was just as entangled as his body; both Baby and Freddy's crackling and popping.

Scott flinched back for a second, "I-I'm not looking, calm down." He stiffly handed over the mask and quickly stood, getting a form of distance between them. The hand of wires grabbed ahold of the mask and eagerly shoved it back onto its face. The animatronic then calmed back down and began to slowly wind itself back together. "It's not that bad, really," Scott assured, trying to make small talk.

"If it wasn't you then it would be," Ennard forewarned. "If- If they found me  _like this_ ," it began again with its voice heavy with the muffled 'breathing' sound. "They would take me back down there." Scott knew that it meant Afton's Robotics. "…But I can't hide this."

"Did… you ever have a suit?" Scott inquired, curious to why Ennard was walking around without one if it once had one. This was yet another question that triggered a lingering period of silence. "This one wasn't yours, but you had one of your own, right?" Maybe Ennard and Baby worked together, Scott assumed. Perhaps Ennard had been a character at the failed 'Circus Baby's Pizza World'.

"No," Ennard bluntly stated as it finally straightened itself. It began to manipulate the wires on its chest and worked them into the familiar 'bow' pattern that Scott had noticed. Strangely still, Ennard did not elaborate, and Scott found himself a bit more uncomfortable with this revelation. All the animatronic had to do was shut down and Scott was left in the dark, and everything already seemed suspicious. The blue eyes were back to focusing on him, "I'm back together again. Can we go inside?"

"Sure, sure," Scott agreed as he headed to the garage door. He stepped into the living room and then slowed to a crawl, turning to face his companion. "I need to do a little more work before noon. You can distract yourself?" Ennard didn't protest this and gave a brief agreement. "Great. I'll be right back," the man announced as he stepped into the office. "I'm closing the door." Naturally, the animatronic wouldn't suspect anything, as this was a ritual that the human did daily.

Scott collapsed into the office chair and quickly dialed the number out. After a few rings, the call was answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Fritz, it's me," Scott began. He cleared his throat, "I was just talking with Baby and I… I have a few questions about this  _Ennard_."


	69. Chapter 69

Mike didn't wake to the alarm. He sent a confused look over towards the clock and could see that it was pushing eleven o'clock, and that he had nearly slept until noon. He shuffled into the hallway shortly afterwards, now in his uniform and prepared to make a late appearance at work. A small note greeted him on the table and was rather brief with, " _Breakfast in fridge,"_ and a small mask doodle. Though it seemed like an innocent enough note, Marionette's absence along with the simply note gave Mike the impression that he was displeased.

This was only exemplified when Mike opened the fridge door and found a piece of reheated pizza topped with scrambled eggs sitting inside. Marionette couldn't have thought that was a good idea; it was probably to make some sort of point. He ate it regardless, but he could nearly taste the frustration. What was worse was that Mike knew he needed to concoct a believable lie by time he got to the Pizzeria, but he had suddenly tapped out of locations. He could say Phone Guy again, but it lost its credibility. Two nights at Jeremy's also seemed suspicious.

It wasn't even that he thought Marionette would be furious if he found out. He might be, but his more extreme fear was that the Puppet would put his foot down and forbid him to return to the arcade. Still going at that point would risk their relationship, and he didn't want to do that, which would mean that his hands would be tied. Yet he still hadn't figured everything out and while it seemed farfetched, something seemed to be amiss. These animatronics were not like Chipper's, they had to be haunted. They acted too aggressive to not be.

Eventually, Mike did make it to the pizzeria, and thankfully was confronted with the lull after lunch. The children that were still present were mostly in the arcade and less sets of eyes were scouring the room. As such, Mike decided to take a detour into the Prize Corner and reluctantly come face to face with the Puppet who was waiting for him. He must have heard him coming as he began to raise from his box as Mike approached. The security guard was about to speak when he was taken aback by the sight of the striped animatronic.

He doubted he had ever seen Marionette wearing the bowtie that was pinned to his chest, just above his topmost button; not to mention any sort of bowtie or pin. It was white with black polka dots, which went well enough with his coloring. The blue ribbons tied around his wrists certainly didn't though.

"I miss you one morning and this happens," Mike remarked with an amused smile. Maybe it was odd, but it was at least a little cute.

"Mr. Schmidt, so glad to see you finally came in," Marionette quietly responded. He then turned to the doorway, keeping an eye out to make sure nobody would be coming in or listening in. "How was breakfast?"

"Strange enough, but not as much as the change in fashion sense." Mike gestured at the bow to emphasize. Marionette reached up to adjust it.

"Chrissy brought it in for me! She had to leave earlier, but you should have seen how happy she was," the Puppet proudly touted. Though under that pride was a wave of relief that he didn't suppress; pride in Chrissy and that she had overcome her fear to continue returning to the pizzeria. Even if she had to stay close to him, she hadn't let the event with Baby poison her, and that was commendable. After all, Marionette knew what it was like to witness a horrifying event and then be frightened for life. It was especially hard on children.  _Too many nightmares._

"I'm glad to see her back," Mike assured. "With everything that happened… She's a strong kid." Mike was more impressed than anything else, though there was the relief of not scarring the poor girl for good. "And she knows how to dress you up; that's always a plus," he added with a playful smirk, "and it looks good on you." This got a chime out of the Puppet and it seemed like all was alright.

"I thank you, but alas, I have a birthday to attend soon," Marionette forewarned as he gestured to the presents stacked on the prize counter. "So, you'll forgive me if we save our more pressing conversation until later. Just in case we find it appropriate to raise our voices." Mike's smirk dropped immediately; he had never heard of someone telegraphing a fight before and wished he hadn't have heard it now. Apparently, Marionette's marginally good mood was at least somewhat faked, and that made all of this much more uncomfortable.

"I'll explain when we get home," the security guard tried to buy more time.

"You certainly will!" the Puppet chimed with what sounded like amusement, but seemed just a bit too amused following the threat of an argument.

After Marionette dismissed himself to the birthday party, Mike went along with actual work. He kept watch on the animatronic for a while, but the striped being was much too interested in the toddlers at the birthday party than he was in keeping an eye on the human. While both Jeremy and Natalie asked about Mike's lack of coming in during the morning, they didn't press hard enough to get actual answers.

Fritz, meanwhile, had his own concerns that didn't involve Mike's recent disappearances. He eventually approached Mike with clear concern of a different nature, "How was Phone Guy when you saw him?" Mike assumed that it got back to Fritz that he was spending ridiculous hours over at the Phone Guy's home. He went along with it.

"Didn't seem like anything was off. Why?" It made sense to keep tabs, considering that he was 'with Phone Guy' for the last two days. "Did you see him?"

"He called me yesterday and was asking about Ennard. He said that Baby was telling him about it," Fritz murmured, keeping his voice low. Mike was surprised to feel himself tense, uncomfortable subject matter or not. "I just told him some of it. I didn't want to scare him, but apparently Baby wasn't saying much," Fritz defended.

"Oh yeah?" Mike's eyes slight narrowed in suspicion. "What was she saying?"

"Nothing important, really. If she did, he wouldn't have been asking me about everything. Again, I had to be very, very specific or- We have nowhere to put Baby. He freaks out and Baby's back in here."

"Well, she's not living with us," Mike shot down quickly. That's all he needed; Marionette upset with him while they were housing his aggressive, seven-foot-tall sister. "What did you say? Nothing about Chrissy?"

" _Nothing_ about Chrissy," Fritz clarified. "Told him about Baby separating from Ennard, about it being down in Afton's somewhere, and I did mention that you two got in a scuffle." He got a slightly amused smile, "Considering that you singlehandedly put yourself in the hospital, I left that part out too… But I'm pretty sure it startled him. He got really uneasy on the phone." His smile fell into a concerned frown and Fritz looked over towards the birthday party nearby. "He started stuttering. He did that thing he does."

"I know that thing," Mike agreed. "He did it while I was over there last."

"And he asked me if Ennard was dangerous," Fritz pointed out. Now the suspicion was on his face. "I'm trying to figure out what Baby could've been telling him, because he's obviously not going to say anything, and if she's trying to get him down to smuggle Ennard out then we need to know about it." While he looked truly concerned, Mike seemed slightly less so.

"Phone Guy's not going into Afton's," he assured. "He wouldn't even step inside with me when we were there last time. Phone Guy's way too paranoid to go trekking down into the dark." He paused a moment and then asked, "You told him it was dangerous, yeah?"

"I told him the honest truth," Fritz assured, "and that's that Ennard was way more dangerous than Foxy and Mari ever were. I still believe that; you don't know what's going on with programming and sentience once the bodies get all that wrapped into each other… Literally." The technician shuffled and finished, "So, I just wanted a head's up if you've heard anything." To which Mike declined. Fritz seemed content enough, "Then we need to just keep an ear out if he calls back." With that, the odd conversation ended.

Hopefully, that would be the last of Phone Guy's curiosity about Ennard.

The day was short, but Mike made up for his lack of presence by staying later to clean. This allowed Jeremy to go home earlier than usual and gave Mike a little more leeway before the eventual confrontation. It was late by time they finally could leave, and after locking the doors and saying his farewells to Foxy, Mike drove home. The car ride was silent, even though Marionette didn't have to hide as much with it being nighttime. He was laying over the backseat uncovered and staring vacantly out the window above him.

Even after the car stopped, the Puppet lingered in the back for a few moments before silently teleporting inside. Mike gave a tired exhale and followed him in, already trying to figure out how he would be able to claim innocence when he would be trying to slip out again. He needed a plan, but he didn't know which one would be worth even trying. Inside the house, Marionette was already waiting. He leaned against the back of the couch with his arms crossed and a smile-less, though mostly unreadable expression as he watched Mike enter.

"Okay, so… I was out again all last night," Mike admitted as he shut the door. "And you can probably guess where I was." He would be vague, because he didn't know if Jeremy had said anything earlier. Instead, he turned to face the animatronic and shockingly kept his own face blank in the process. "But things ran a bit later than I expected. That's all."

Marionette looked down towards the floor. It was obvious that he was having trouble believing him.

"You know I wouldn't be out until six in the morning unless it was of dire importance, and you know how little I think of things of 'dire importance'. Time got away from me, that's all," Mike insisted with assurance. He didn't have to lie, but it certainly didn't feel like the truth.

"I suppose so… I just find it odd how quiet you were about this last night," Marionette pointed out. "You didn't say you would be out this late again."

"I didn't think I would, but time got out of my hands," Mike explained to him. "And I'm basically dead to the world once it hits about six. I'm still dead to the world now." He slid off his jacket and threw it over one of the dining room chairs. "I'm going to take a shower and make it an early night, so if you still want to go to bed then I'll come with you."

"Perhaps that would be good. I have to be awake early tomorrow; specifically, between five and seven," Marionette said, his gaze briefly narrowing in suspicion, showing that he would be keeping an eye out. "…Will you be staying home tonight?"

"That's the plan," Mike responded as he passed by and headed off to take his shower. He certainly seemed tired enough, so it wouldn't make sense for Mike to force himself to leave. For the moment, the Puppet let his questions drop and decided that he would trust him for the evening, as hearing that he wasn't leaving made him at ease. Tomorrow they would sit down and talk it out.

The Puppet had a terrible feeling that he was being naïve.

* * *

Mike barely managed to make it to the arcade before his shift. Nobody was there, not even Chance, so he wasn't caught, but it had been a close call. He had barely set up at his office when he received his nightly phone call. Jennifer was on the other side of the line, just as usual.

" _Welcome to your third night. I actually have a few tips for you, curtesy of Sarah- She knew the guy who worked before you,"_ Jennifer quickly explained.  _"Okay, first thing's first; that supply closet behind you isn't just for show. If things get too hectic then feel free to camp out in there for a few minutes. You won't be able to do this tomorrow, but I think it will work fine tonight as long as you keep a strong grip. It works on the mice, it works on Bo Peep… And it even works on Sly. I'll get back to him in a minute."_

Of course, the name 'Sly' wasn't too unfamiliar to Mike from the sign in the kitchen. Mike didn't interrupt to correct her, as he didn't want to admit to wandering the arcade.

" _Now this is really important. Sarah said that the animatronics respond to music- usually the music that plays to introduce them and familiar tunes- but there is one song that seems to affect their programming. She said that maybe it's an incomplete program that wasn't finished. Which would make sense; it wasn't like we could get anymore technicians out here after they cheat- You know what? Off topic. So, he used to play the song on his phone and, apparently, it would make them all slow down."_

Finally, a tip that could save his life. "Sounds like something I could use. They were giving me hell last night," Mike said as he reached around in the drawer for paper. Eventually he settled on a scrap of magazine to scribble on. "I'll just pretend that I didn't hear those red flags. What's the song?"

" _Uh… Yeah,"_ Jennifer sounded awkward. It didn't seem like she thought he would call her out on the cut off rant.  _"It's called something like 'The Grandfather Clock'. It goes like…"_ She then began to somewhat recite the tune of the song through 'da's. However, she didn't need to. Mike was absolutely floored by the reveal, because there was suddenly a connection to Freddy's… And not one that he had expected.

"I got it…" Mike murmured as he tapped his pen on the table. "How about 'Pop Goes the Weasel'?" He looked out of the corner of his eye as the sheep suddenly appeared and rolled down the hall beside the office.

" _Okay,_ _ **never**_ _play Pop Goes the Weasel. I don't know where you got that from, but- Oh, Sly! Okay, yeah, I got it, but no."_ She gave a small laugh that was only slightly forced.  _"You either saw the posters or looked at some of the material over in the prize corner, I assume?"_

"Psychic vision," Mike flatly stated. "I'm at least fifty percent sure it's an animatronic." He then flashed the light at the sheep, which had appeared again. It zoomed past the stage of the mice and continued towards the ball pit.

" _Well, here's a little history lesson on Sly, since you're so interested,"_ Jennifer began. Her voice almost sounded suspicious, or perhaps even a little exasperated, but she continued.  _"When the Funcade opened, it was supposed to have a restaurant inside where animatronics would put on a show while people ate their meals. The animatronics were Poppy the Monkey and Sly the Weasel… You know, Pop Goes the Weasel. You're keeping up?"_

"I'm way ahead of you," Mike assured. Indeed, he was, and he furrowed his brows. "So, I'm expecting Sly tonight and Poppy tomorrow?"

" _Thankfully, no. Something went wrong- I'll be honest, I don't know what happened, but there isn't a Poppy. It could've broken down or something, but she's not here, and I think that's why the restaurant part was cancelled. Sometimes they still have shows with Sly, but it's hard playing off someone who doesn't exist."_

Suddenly, Tabby's story was reassured. As shady as it had sounded before, Tabby had been fired at the last moment because they had shut down the kitchen. Something still didn't make sense, though.

"But why shut down an entire dining hall just because they're missing an animatronic?" Speaking of which, Mike watched as Hickory stepped down from his stage and started to approach the office. He leaned back in his seat and waited for the animatronic to move on. He stayed quiet and the mouse seemed to not notice him as it lingered outside of the office.

" _I know, doesn't make sense, right?"_ Jennifer suddenly sounded a bit too excited. Or, at least, a bit too interested.  _"My best guess is because of Sly's behavior. Without Poppy keeping Sly in line, he just does whatever. Seems like the best option."_

"Makes sense. I don't want to cut you off, but they're getting restless. If Sly's going to give me trouble, then I need to know how to fend him off," Mike pointed out. Jennifer made a sort of sucking noise, as though she had little faith in him.

" _Sly's going to come out of the kitchen and make his way to your office. He knows you're there and he won't stop until he's got ahold of you. He'll camp outside of the office, sometimes hidden and sometimes in plain sight, and wait until you look distracted. If you get him in the eyes with the light quick enough, Sly will get startled and run back to hide. If he gets too close… Hiding under the desk won't work. Follow Sarah's suggestion and hide in the closet… You'll just have to hold it closed until he gets bored and leaves…"_

"…You say that like you're not sure if he's going to leave… And what if Doc's stalking the office?" Mike pointed out. A thump against his foot reminded him of the task at hand and he gave a weary exhale at seeing it. He nudged it back again and checked the monitors. Hickory was outside the bathrooms, Dickory was near the prizes, and Bo Peep was coming down the main hall towards the sheep, but none of them were in the immediate area. He breathed a little easier for the moment.

" _Sly will run if Doc's coming, so just get under the desk and leave immediately after Doc comes out,"_ Jennifer assured.  _"…Before I let you go, could I ask you something?"_

"Alright, but make it quick. I've got a sheep at my feet," Mike pointed out as he flashed the light at the sheep which, again, tried to creep in. He heard the fan let out a groan and looked over in time to see Boy Blue vanish from his spot beside the thermostat. "You've got to be kidding…" the security guard murmured to himself as he stood to turn the temperature back down. Dickory rounded the corner while he was there and he only barely dodged and wandered back into the office; all the while with Dickory standing there, seemingly waiting to confirm if Mike was there or not.

" _You were asking about Afton's Robotics and Fazbear Entertainment… You know what? Never mind. It's getting late, you're getting busy, and I'll talk to you tomorrow."_ Jennifer abruptly hung up before Mike could ask any questions. This was probably for the best as Dickory seemed to be listening to him. He closed his cell phone and put it away, and Dickory wandered past.

" _Fazbear Entertainment… If anyone's still left over from Fazbear Entertainment, would they have come over here? There's a connection. There's obviously-…"_ Mike's thoughts cut off as his gaze went down through the arcade. He slowly sat upwards and peered through the darkness, noticing that the kitchen light was off and making it darker. There, standing just past the stage, was something he hadn't expected. " _Please don't be Sly."_

Its pointed face was a dark brown and underneath its 'snout' was a molded mouth stretched into a wide smile, with sharp looking, fake teeth.

" _Who would make something like that for children?!"_ Mike was floored this time. It looked so sinister in nature. Not including the wicked smile, it was also wearing a black jacket and molded on black pants, all styled like it was supposed to be some sort of 'bad boy' character. He got it, the weasel was supposed to be a villain or something, but who in their right mind would give it such a freakish face? On second thought, it probably was William Afton.

Sly simply stood down by the stage and stared at him. Only just after midnight and here he was stuck with the new animatronic. Mike held his own and kept an almost constant gaze between it and the surrounding area. It didn't move an inch for the next two hours, even as Hickory, Dickory, and Bo Peep passed by it. Sly paid them no attention and, other than not walking into him, they seemed uninterested in him too. If Mike was almost always facing him, Sly couldn't get any closer, or that's what he assumed.

Unfortunately for the animatronics, Mike was entirely focused tonight on his work. He kept his flashlight at hand, he watched the monitors, and he managed to keep Sly back with the threat of the flashlight. When he was being careful and willing to stay in his desk, Mike was still fine at his job, and it was obvious that he could stay in the office fine without getting too restless. This meant that when he was in the office, Mike had a mark advantage over them.

Then, shortly after two, a loud crash towards the front of the store distracted Mike momentarily. He jumped in his seat and looked at the monitors where the source of the noise was revealed. Hickory had his fist in the screen of an arcade cabinet and yanked it back out with a stumble. It then moved to the next one and sluggishly reared back its fist before slamming it into the next one.

" _I hope that's not coming out of my salary,"_ was Mike's immediate thought. Then came,  _"Am I supposed to do something? How am I supposed to get him to stop without…"_ Almost immediately, he perked with a realization. He could turn on a nearby machine and hopefully distract Hickory away from his continued destruction. This plan was hitched instantly when Mike looked upwards to find Sly gone. He sent a frantic look around and then got out his flashlight and shined it around.

Wherever the weasel went, it wasn't visible and he doubted it went back to the kitchen. Another crash foreshadowed that Hickory was on a tangent and he threw one of the pens across the room, hoping it would clatter and drive the animatronics away. It did nothing; he didn't even hear it land on the floor, so he doubted Hickory did.

"Damn it…" It was too early to be out of the office playing cat and mouse… But he had to do something to lure it away. Mike fixed his hat, checked the cameras one last time, and stood to his feet. With slow, patient steps he headed to the middle hall and started down towards the front. Taking a sharp left, he slipped into the aisle on the other side of the destroyed machines and looked for one to turn on. Eventually he chose a random one in the middle and tapped on one of the buttons rapidly. The second it buzzed to life, Mike turned back and headed to the hall.

The plan was to walk straight back to the office and sit himself back down before Hickory could wander down and bump into him. Mike stepped into the hall and was midway through a turn when he saw something slowly moving at the end. An upper body started to lean out from around the corner and revealed the shadowed, yet freakish face of the weasel. It came to a halt once its head was fully in view and stared down at the security guard. It had no problem moving as he watched it.

Which meant that it had no problem suddenly launching itself around the corner and breaking into a sprint.

Mike turned and ran down past the prizes. There was a cluttered thump as Hickory and Sly bumped into each other, but he could hear Sly hot on his heels, crashing into the wall as they took another sharp corner. With another turn, Mike was outside the wall of the office and circled around inside. He made a beeline for the supply closet and fumbled with the knob, but it wouldn't budge.

"Oh, come on, no!" Mike blurted out as he tried to strongarm the door. It was just sturdy enough to resist his pulling. "Not now! Damn it!"

The rapid footsteps approached and the animatronic swung around into the office. It was sheer reflex that caused Mike to shove his back to the wall and aim the flashlight ahead. Sly was just a few steps away when the light met his eyes, and only then did he make a real reaction. Its pupils and irises shrunk dramatically, its body gave a small shiver, and then a distinctly metallic sound echoed out from its head; it sounded distinctly like a hollow 'pop'.

Sly raised its arms stiffly in front of it, as though to shield itself, and took a few clumsy steps out of the office. Within seconds, it had vanished back into the arcade. Mike's heart was pounding and he didn't feel any relief from it leaving.

Especially not when a beige body barreled out from the main hall. Choking, Mike delved under the desk to avoid Doc, who had made an immediate trip into the office even though he shouldn't have been alerted. It smashed its fists onto the desk as expected and wood shuddered. Then came the few seconds of silence that usually followed Doc's 'tantrum'. With his heart still racing, he assumed that Doc would leave as well, but instead he didn't.

Heavy footsteps circled the desk and the animatronic stood behind it, allowing Mike to see its legs and lower belly. Stiffly, it tried to lean over and jammed its arms underneath the desk. Considering that it seemed unable to fully bend over, Doc couldn't get his arms far enough under the desk to reach Mike. He couldn't tell if it was pitiful enough to be amusing or if he needed to be concerned by how desperate it was. Doc was obviously becoming more determined over the week and that alone was a sign to be fearful.

Doc gave up and headed back to his stage sluggishly, allowing Mike to climb out from underneath the desk and plant himself back on the office chair. It was a sort of relief to be back in the office.

" _I can't keep doing this. Machines or not, they're going to kill me one of these times."_ Even worse, that thrill that he had from the previous days was starting to die down. The danger was becoming more intense and Mike was slowly getting in further over his head. He was too stubborn to quit, but not stupid enough to take his safety for granted.

Another hour crept by and the office grew increasingly warm. Mike knew that Boy Blue had changed the thermostat, but he was too paranoid to risk going over and turning it down. He could manage it for a while, but it was slowing his reflexes. It was about to turn four in the morning when Mike started to find it unbearable. He sluggishly shined the light on the sheep, which skittered away, and sent a weary look at the monitor. Since he scared off Sly, the animatronic had been a no show, and the others were easy to avoid now that he was staying in the office.

His clothes were sticking to his body and he was having trouble breathing with how stuffy it was. It became clear that he wouldn't be able to bear another hour of this.

" _At this rate, I won't even make it out of here come five,"_ Mike considered. He proceeded by removing his uniform jacket and trying to fan himself with a magazine.  _"It's right there. Just get up, walk two feet, turn it down, and come back."_ It sounded so easy in comparison of the move he made earlier.

After waiting for Dickory to pass by- he was walking past the office a lot more frequently than the days before- Mike shuffled over and turned the thermostat back down. It would take a few minutes, but he would feel some sort of difference. Mike flopped back in his seat and didn't even have a moment to consider any sort of victory before he noticed something new.

There, peering out from around the corner, was none other than Sly. It was right at the edge of the entrance and stared at him with that wickedly molded face; eagerly preparing to rush him. However, Mike knew that shining his light now would do nothing. It didn't take a genius to realize that the light only worked when in close enough proximity. If he moved too early, Sly could take it as sign to hurry in, and there would be no way to escape.

Time for his poker face. Mike just kept a direct gaze on the weasel and lazily crossed his arms. His flashlight was clutched threateningly in his hand, challenging Sly to make any sort of movement.

It would've been a dramatic face off if he hadn't heard a familiar groan.

"What?!" Mike sputtered. It was obviously Doc, but Hickory and Dickory hadn't noticed him, so he was utterly confused. Alas, Doc jumped down from the stage. "For the love of Foxy-!"

It wasn't as though he could just sit there and stare at Sly when Doc sped in, so he ducked back under the desk and hoped that Doc would get there before Sly. Either fortunately or not, Doc instead sped past the office and down the hall beside the office, where Sly was peeking around from. The motion was enough trigger Sly to rush off, as Mike heard him rushing back towards the kitchen.

And to only punctuate how wonderful the night was turning out to be, the sheep proceeded to roll under the desk and bump against his leg. He shoved it back and returned to his seat, waiting for his time to run out. This was the first time that Mike considered not coming back.

He always returned to Freddy's, as Freddy's was like an addicting drug. It gave him a rush in an otherwise dull life and made him feel superhuman for those few hours. Something was different here, but Hickory Dickory's wasn't what was different; Mike was.

Back then, Mike didn't have a business or a nice home, or Jeremy and Fritz, or Natalie and his family, or Marionette. Mike didn't have something that he wanted to get home to and something about how intense this was reminded him that he now had something to lose. He didn't know if he had enough of a drive to come back again; if it wasn't for those brief glimpses of some sort of truth, he doubted that he would have even stayed at all. Five o'clock came and Mike was truly starting to wonder if a look into the past was worth putting everything on the line for.

His thoughts were cut short when he noticed Hickory stopping beside the stage. The mouse animatronic stood there, gazing off at nothing, and made no indication that it intended to move. It seemed harmless enough, but then Dickory also appeared and stood by the entrance to the office. Then Bo Peep appeared and stood near the hall to the front door with her sheep by her side. If he squinted, Mike swore he could see Sly back by the kitchen door as well. All the animatronics had come out to stand around the office.

As though they were waiting for the power to die.

Mike knew he couldn't wait. He grabbed his jacket and flashlight, and left anything else as it wasn't important. He took slow, sideways steps towards the thermostat with his back to the wall and his front towards the animatronics. Bo Peep followed him with her head while the mice seemed to turn their heads to listen better. They were all waiting for him to slip up and he could only assume that they would strike the moment he lost power. Once they were out of view, he started to move a little quicker down the hall, though kept his gaze behind him as he passed the restrooms.

There was no surprise when Sly's face slowly peeked out from around the corner. Nor when Dickory started to lumber out from behind the weasel. They were both preparing for what was coming, but Mike planned to beat them to the punch. He back around the next corner and continued back towards the door.

It was then that the power died. Mike spun on his heels and blindly dashed to the door, only to bump into a short figure midway. With an exasperated huff, Mike shoved Boy Blue out of the way, ignored what sounded disturbingly like a giggle, and pushed through the back door. The security guard took a step out of the building when he was suddenly yanked back by a hand grabbing his jacket. Mike twisted out of the grasp and shined the flashlight back threateningly. This was the appropriate choice as it was Sly, but he was too far back for a reaction.

Regardless, Sly slowly let the door shut and lock into place once again. Mike had made it through his third night. With a weary exhale, he turned and headed to his car. Maybe he wouldn't come back tomorrow.

As though Mike had any sort of choice when pitted against his self-control.

* * *

_The dull whirring of metal seemed to resonate through the walls and was followed with a noise like a crack. Thumping, scraping, sounded like heavy plastic, couldn't have been. The lights were dull and everything smelled oily and damp. It was so claustrophobic and somewhere in the night he could hear thumping as deconstruction happened just in the next room. In here he huddled and hid from the inevitable._

_And all the while, everything was silent. Nobody whispered in his ear, telling him to save the others, telling him to find the monster that condemned them, and it stayed deathly silent on the inside and much too loud on the outside. No more parties, no more children; the price of seeking revenge was to be rendered inactive. They had failed at their only chance. Now here he was, thrown to the trash, awaiting his fate. Even his so called 'friend' had abandoned him, but he kept ahold of some pitiful hope that there was a way out._

_He heard the footsteps from nearby as someone started to wheel something away. They would soon get to him, they would soon find him, it was only a matter of time. Yet in this moment, the voice suddenly returned. Suddenly there was the harsh voice, the sudden command, echoing through and rendering any other thoughts trivial. It was a command that he couldn't refuse._

_**SAVE YOURSELF.** _

All at once, Marionette was awake. He immediately turned back to stare at the empty bed beside him. Mike was gone, but he thought that perhaps he wasn't fully gone. Maybe Mike woke him up leaving the bedroom, he hoped, and he checked the clock to find it only five-twenty-one. It was too early to consider doing much outside of sleeping, so Marionette patiently waited for a few moments for Mike to return. He needed him tonight… It had been some time since he remembered his more uncomfortable memories.

He couldn't tell what could've refreshed them. Maybe the party today, but that seemed too minor to trigger such an obscure memory. His black fingers rubbed over his face in a sort of self-comfort and he glanced back at the clock. Only this time did he notice the music box sitting on the nightstand. It only took a few moments for it to all make sense; that would explain why the Puppet wouldn't hear his companion leave the room. That would mean that he could've left at any time.

With a frustrated burst of static, Marionette telekinetically threw the music box off the nightstand. Not hard enough to break the music box and not enough to relieve any of his frustration. He couldn't believe that after his clear disapproval Mike would still go off wherever he was going. The man hadn't even offered the details this time, which was significantly more suspicious than if he was still over with the Phone Guy. Which he wasn't; Marionette knew that was no longer the case. It couldn't be if Mike was hiding it this intensely.

So, where was he? Where would Mike be going so frequently? As much as Marionette wanted to guess, his mind was clouded with sleep and memories. Memories of cold nights of fear and uncertainty, before his escape, before the many he spent hidden in the back of the Pizzeria to avoid being taken away. He shuddered at the thought and tried to focus back on Mike, and left the bedroom so that he could look and see if he was truly gone. Alas, he was nowhere to be seen and his car was missing, so he was clearly still wherever he was.

It wasn't as though Marionette could teleport into his car when he didn't know where he was. He would just have to wait for him to return, which- from past experience- usually came around at about six-thirty. Frustrated and wanting to pass time quickly, the Puppet returned to the bedroom, grabbed his music box, and wound it as he dropped himself safely onto the bed. The world disappeared into sleep for a little longer.

Instead of waking when the music box shut off, Marionette woke up when the bedroom door clicked closed. Pinpricks of light scanned half of the room as he listened to the movement behind him as Mike shuffled around. He could feel his weight on the other side of the bed and tightened his grip on the music box clutched between his arms. He waited until the last moment and tried to suppress the static of annoyance. Mike lied, Mike snuck out, and worst of all Mike used his music box against him  _again._

Once he was certain that Mike was laying down, Marionette rolled over and grabbed ahold of his arm. To his surprise, Mike reacted by jumping and wrenching his arm back. It was the first time in so long that he had startled the man and it immediately confused him. Frustration died down as he stared over at Mike, able to see him clearly through the semi-darkness of the bedroom. Mike apparently saw him too as his eyes adjusted- it wasn't very light outside just yet- or may have just recognized the feel of the fabric on his arm. He slowly relaxed.

Mike's pulse was fast enough that Marionette could hear it. It fringed on the edge of frenzy, but then began to quickly die down into a normal rhythm. This wasn't normal; Mike didn't react like this.

"I thought you were still asleep," Mike muttered in some sort of defense. He already sounded groggy and seemed less coherent than usual, understandbly.

"I thought you were staying here," Marionette corrected. He intended to be firm, but his voice was gentle. Something was wrong and he knew it, and he was almost willing to coax it out. The human tiredly dragged the blankets over him and laid down. Silence returned to the room as his breathing started to slow. He knew that Marionette was still kneeling over him, looking down at him, but he almost felt safer that way.

The silence was eventually broken. "I don't want you to leave tomorrow," Marionette insisted. "I don't care what the reason is, I don't want you going wherever you're going. It's running you down." He reached out to pet his head and felt the overprotectiveness set in. "Stay with me."

"…Yeah," Mike quietly agreed. He sounded defeated but didn't argue with him. He couldn't go back. He couldn't risk going back, tape recorder or not. Or music box or not.

Though couldn't and wouldn't weren't the same thing.


	70. Chapter 70

Things were uncomfortable to say the least. "I'm starting to get worried…"

Marionette fidgeted uncomfortably and kept his voice quiet, as only a curtain separated them from the pizzeria. Their shift had just ended and the last children had just left, leaving the Puppet with the incoming nervousness from the impending evening. "He's never been like this, Foxy. He's never left without saying anything and he's never been this secret," Marionette vented.

"Maybe he's havin' an affair," Foxy remarked. This was followed by a clear glare from his sibling. "It's a possibility."

"An affair wouldn't be a nightly event that lasted from nine to six," Marionette insisted firmly. Just the thought of him having an affair was both out of the question and too horrible to imagine. He didn't want to even consider the thought as it didn't make sense with Mike's behavior. "It's something else and… I had a nightmare last night. I don't usually have such vivid nightmares unless there's a reason."

"Oh yeah?" Foxy now seemed more interested he pushed the curtain further closed and looked back at the Puppet. "What about? Was it him?"

"It was about the-… It was when the Pizzeria was shut down and we-…" His voice continued to break. Desperation set in and Marionette tightened his hands tighter, trying to ignore the off-tune sounds growing in his chest. "When  _we_ were  _taken away_." Foxy stared blankly for a moment.

"…Lad, yer gonna have to be clearer. Which time when we were taken?" Foxy asked, growing a bit more interested.

"No, not we as in us, I mean-… After the shutdown of the pizzeria and everything was downsized?" It clicked; he could tell as Foxy's ears perked and his eyes focused. "Before I… Returned… I had a memory dream about that, but I don't know why." He directed his eyes to the curtain. "I thought it might be connected…" Then he focused his gaze, "And Jeremy's listening in."

Foxy blinked and wrenched back the curtain. There was Jeremy cleaning the closest table. "He ain't listenin' in. The lad's too good for that," Foxy denied.

"Foxy, unless he was wearing headphones, it's impossible that he  _can't_ hear us. Not with your volume and how close he is," Marionette pointed out. Realizing that Foxy was going to keep denying it, he decided to ignore it for the moment, "But we have more important things to deal with."

"Tell 'im if he goes again that yer gonna follow," Foxy bluntly suggested, "and if he still leaves port, you follow 'im." Considering how unhelpful he seemed determined to be, his advice was sound. The Puppet hummed and considered the possibility of just sneaking into Mike's car before he left. If he left, of course.

"I may do that… But he said he wasn't going, and I don't see why Mike would lie to me," Marionette reminded. It felt better to constantly reassure himself that Mike had no need to lie, but Foxy still seemed skeptic.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pizzeria, Mike was looking for an out and believed that Fritz would provide one. "What are you and Natalie doing tonight?" Mike inquired, looking forward to slipping himself into an excuse so that he could have leeway to escape to Hickory's. Fritz seemed a little surprised by the bold question, but gave a rather specific answer.

"Fixing a toilet," Fritz answered. Mike gave an incredulous look. "The half bath sprung a leak and we're going to have to go in. You're welcome to join," he offered with a small smirk. It wasn't exactly what Mike was expecting, but there was still an opportunity, and he surprised the man by taking it.

"Sure, what the hell. I've got nothing better to do," the security guard shrugged. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"I'm a certified technician, Mike, I think I can handle a toilet," Fritz pointed out.

"No, you can't!" Natalie called from the kitchen. "We're following the directions this time!" There were a few seconds of silence.

"…This time?" Mike quipped a brow. Fritz refused to clarify and bluntly turned to head into the office, looking a little embarrassed. With him gone and a possible alibi found, Mike glanced around for more work for the moment, and eventually looked to Jeremy, who was cleaning the table. He headed over to his side. "Need help?"

Jeremy briefly glanced over before continuing scrubbing at something, "Need a buffer."

"It's not coming going to come out," Mike assured as he looked down at the dark stain on the table. "Our best bet is to throw a new tablecloth on it and burn the old one."

"But it's  _sticky_. It's just going to ruin the next one too," Jeremy lamented as he continued to rub. He didn't seem to notice the sudden look of suspicion and disgust that passed the younger's face.

"Yeah… Any clue what it is?- On second thought, I don't care," Mike immediately reflected. Then he squinted, "Eh… Maybe it's chewing tobacco." This immediately caused Jeremy to recoil his hands like he had been touching poison. Or something more unpleasant and less toxic, something that made him wonder if Freddy's rules should've been carried over. "Speaking of the way my life's going, I'm going over to Fritz's after work to fix a toilet. You want to come? We'll make it a party." Before Jeremy could even answer, the curtains were shoved open.

"You're going out tonight?" Marionette 'innocently' asked as he held the curtains at bay. "That's peculiar, I thought you were staying in."

"If you mean if I'm going out for six or seven hours, no. This is just a favor for Fritz and Nat," Mike assured with a smile. It wasn't a lie yet; it wouldn't be a lie if he decided not to go and as of now, he still hadn't fully decided. He looked down to Jeremy, "So, are you in?"

"Uh… Sure! I'm not really a plumber, but I'll do what I can," Jeremy assured and then looked back towards the Puppet. He could feel the tenseness and could see the piercing gaze. Marionette stared down with a smile, but there was obviously something much more discontent underneath. Mike noticed it too, but blatantly ignored it.

"I'm going to go see if there's anything that can burn that off the table," Mike quipped and headed off. More so, he tried to slip out from under that clear look of suspicion. The glowing dots in Marionette's eyes followed behind him and watched as he headed to the hall and closet. A silent, awkward moment passed, and then Jeremy looked back to the striped being.

"I'll… I'll keep an eye out, okay? I'll make sure he sticks close by," Jeremy assured. Though he nearly flinched under the white dots now posed on him. He almost regretted putting himself into the matter at all.

"See, Lad? Jer'my's gonna watch 'im!" Foxy called out from behind. Marionette's lights moved off to the side, as though somewhat looking back without really turning to look at him. "An' the lad'll call if he tries squirming out the door." While Foxy was bluntly speaking for Jeremy, he was saying the truth. Jeremy had no intention of not telling Marionette, especially since he noticed that Mike was acting strange recently. What with his numerous unexplained disappearances and constant excuses.

Either way, the lights disappeared from Marionette's eyes and he looked back to Jeremy. "I would appreciate that. Thank you," he quietly thanked before letting the curtains shut. He would go along with it for now.

Once the restaurant was cleaned and closed, Mike drove over to Fritz's. Marionette dismissed himself to head home, but curtly assured Mike that he would 'perhaps' come by. Which most likely meant that he had every intention on checking up on the security guard. Mike noted this but was undeterred. He agreed to help regardless of his decision for later tonight. Besides, it had been too long since he spent any quality time with Fritz, Jeremy, and Natalie.

Less than thirty minutes later and they had almost completely uprooted the toilet, and Mike was second guessing his decisions.

"What did you do to this thing?" Mike muttered over to Fritz as he watched said technician trying to squeeze behind.

"It's been on the fritz since before I moved in. This was bound to happen eventually," Fritz pointed out. "Alright, Jere, look in and watch for if anything's different." Jeremy did so as Mike gave a scoff.

"That was just a pun on your own name. I don't know whether I'm more ashamed of you or me for signing up to this." Either way, he leaned around the over side and looked at what Fritz was looking at. More specifically, exposed piping. "Yeah, I don't think toilets are supposed to be like this."

"They're not. I don't know what this is," Fritz admitted and leaned upwards to flush the toilet. With the simple pull of a handle, hell was unleashed. The pipes sprayed out a thin mist of that Mike sputtered on and flung himself back from with a choke of horror. He rubbed his face off on his sleeve as hard as he could, still acting as though he had been hit with acid, and Jeremy laughed down at him.

"It's  _clean_ water, Mike," he pointed before looking down at the technician. "It's all the same up here."

"I don't care if it's clean, it came out of the back of a toilet," Mike defended. He then slid back in and looked over where the water had sprayed out. "I think it came out between this one and the floor," he pointed out and Fritz moved back to circle around and get a look for himself. The security guard moved so that Fritz could get by. "Let's face it; you're going to have to shell out a few bucks and hire a real plumber."

"Here I am, at your service," Natalie chimed in as she squeezed past Mike and Jeremy. She carried a small tool set with her. "They were in that crawlspace in the pantry, by the way. I can't even guess how they got back there." She seemed unbothered by the wet floor and crouched down. "So, it's a leak?"

"It's beyond a leak. I think it's a cracked pipe- this pipe- right underneath the floor," Fritz pointed out as he tried to shine his light down into the gap between plastic and floor.

"…Which would mean, yes, it's a leak," Mike chimed in as he leaned against the sink.

"Then we'll need to replace the whole pipe to be safe. My car's blocked in, so one of you two is going to have to go see if the hardware store is still open. I'm pretty sure it is," Natalie instructed as she looked between Mike and Jeremy. The two looked at each other and Jeremy raised a hand in suggestion. Three games of rock-paper-scissor later and Jeremy was stuck with the job, but he didn't really seem to care. Natalie beckoned him over and started to explain what size of pipe he would need and then sent him out into the hall.

Jeremy headed down into the living room and started to walk through, but came to an abrupt halt when he noticed black and white out of the corner of his eye. He looked over and did a double take, realizing that it was Marionette sitting in one of the living room chairs. Jeremy stared blankly at the Puppet, who stiffly leaned back in the chair, grasping the end of the armrests and legs crossed. He patiently sat there as though waiting.

"…Hey, Mari," Jeremy quietly greeted.

"Evening, Jeremy," Marionette spoke back. His tone was unreadable, but expectant. Again, he seemed to be waiting for something. Assuming that it was Mike, Jeremy headed back into the hall, where the security guard stepped out and was now checking his watch. He seemed lost in thought.

"Uh, Mike," Jeremy coughed. When Mike looked to him, he pointed awkwardly into the living room. "If you're taking a break, Mari's just… Hanging out in the living room. Maybe you two could hang out together- I don't know. I need to get going if I'm going to get that part." In one quick explanation, Jeremy explained the situation, directed Mike, and then wiped his hands clean of it. Without another word, he headed to the door, hoping to avoid any form of confrontation.

Mike wandered into the living room and found the Puppet in the same position that Jeremy had. "Checking up on me?" he inquired with the raise of a brow. The striped one didn't answer this and simply watched as he moved to sit down in the armchair's twin. "Shockingly enough, I actually have an airtight alibi tonight. It's not one I'm proud of, but it's the truth," Mike assured as he glanced over. "You're being quiet."

"I just wanted to see how it was going," Marionette corrected, but didn't answer Mike's partial question. "I wasn't sure how long something like this would take."

"Until it's fixed or until we give up and call a professional? One of those outcomes feels a lot closer than the other," Mike joked. Marionette was still emotionally distant; it was obvious that Mike would have to be more direct. Marionette paused to turn and look around the room, briefly pausing with his head turned to the clock, and then spoke once more.

"If you have the time, I was hoping we could have a bit of a talk," Marionette suggested. It only would've sounded innocent if Mike thought he wasn't fishing for answers. "More specifically about what happened last night."

"What's there to say? I climbed into bed, minding my own business, and you jumped me." A slight tinge of a smirk passed his lips. "You've been spending too much time with your brother. It's bad enough having nightmares of him jumping me." There was a moment of a chime, but it was suppressed.

"I meant where you have been going," Marionette directly inquired. He now turned to face Mike, his smile gone and the seriousness evident. "I could care less about you slipping out at night. I just want to know why."

It could've been so easy to say it then, but Mike still couldn't figure out how to go about this. Telling Marionette the truth would involve him admitting that he was sneaking out to play cat and mouse with a group of strange, competitive animatronics. There was so much that could wrong with this. So, Mike spoke through instinct and tested the waters.

"What if I couldn't tell you?" Mike asked and promptly regretted it. "In theory, I mean. What if I just couldn't tell you?"

"I'd be concerned," Marionette admitted. His features softened as the worry crept in.

"And what if I couldn't tell you  _yet_?" Mike further asked, both trying to stay quiet and trying to comfort. "That I would soon, but for whatever reason I'm forced to be quiet about it?"

"I'd be very concerned," Marionette continued. His voice grew softer now.

"But you trust me, right?" He almost didn't want to ask this. "Mari, you know I'd never do anything to hurt you, right? I mean, everything I do is for us. You trust me on this much, right?" In the moment of silence following this, he reached out onto the armrest and laid his hand on the dark one resting there. This had practically been the closest they had been since this week of Hickory's had begun. It was the first time when it really wasn't in between them, even though Mike was currently trying to assure the Puppet without saying anything concrete.

Marionette turned his hand over and squeezed his fingers around Mike's.

"I trust that you would never hurt me, Mike," Marionette assured. His hand tightened on Mike's, "But I can't trust that you won't get yourself hurt."

"I'll tell you everything, okay?" Mike finally agreed. "You just have to trust me for now… I'll explain what's going on, I promise, I just can't yet." He had to, he couldn't wait any longer. Mike didn't want to wait any longer… But this also led to another decision. While sitting there, talking about the sneaking around, he decided that he would return to Hickory's. This all couldn't be for nothing.

"It's… Difficult for me to accept that," Marionette admitted. His other hand retracted from the armrest and he laid it across his middle, almost protectively. "Goldie used to ask me to accept what he said without question and now I know that there were some things I should have questioned. I know he hid just as much as my father- Fredrick, I mean- did. I'm not preferable to secrets." He was going to hate himself for this later, he already knew it. "…But unfortunately, I trust you… As long as you promise me that you are not in over your head."

That was a low blow, comparing him to Goldie. Perhaps Marionette didn't realize it.

"I'm not. I've got this all under control," Mike reassured. He tightened his grip on the Puppet's hand. While Mike truly believed what he was saying, he couldn't help but feel badly about what was happening. "I'm not like Goldie." More specifically, he wasn't hiding information to control Marionette, but he decided not to say that out loud. It was too likely that it could offend him. "…When I come home tonight, I'll tell you everything," Mike slipped out. A heaviness started to lift from his shoulders, "You just have to promise not to freak out."

"I won't promise anything. I could very well follow you wherever you've been going and then have a moment," Marionette challenged, but his tone was lighter. It almost seemed like he was just as relieved, "But you've survived my moments."

"I live for your moments. I survive your freak outs," Mike quipped with a sly smile. Then the conversation was largely over. Mike stood to return to helping Fritz and, before he could say anything further, Marionette slid out of the chair and embraced him, holding him tightly. Mike hugged him back and regretted what he was going to do. Regretted that he was still going back.

"That's a lot better than I thought. I thought you were sneaking out here to smoke." Mike slightly hesitated at Natalie's voice as she passed by to the front door, checking to see if Jeremy had already left.

"I don't smoke," Mike pointed out. Since Marionette made no move to pull back, he made no move to separate.

"That's what I thought, but you can never really tell," Natalie pointed out. She then pulled out her cell and began to dial Jeremy's number. As she did this, Marionette finally released Mike. He didn't leave immediately and even followed as Mike returned to Fritz's bathroom to check in, but eventually he did go. This left Mike alone with his decision.

He would handle one more night and then he would tell Marionette. Then his conscious would be clean. Then they would figure out together if it was worth a fifth night.

* * *

Mike felt uneasy even before the night started. There was just a foreboding feeling and he couldn't tell if it was the lasting feeling of coming here against Marionette's wishes or it was just remembering the night before. He hadn't been able to smuggle in the music box, so he felt massively underprepared.

But he needed answers and answered the phone as soon as the call came. "Hello?" Mike greeted. It was Jennifer, as expected, but something sounded a bit off.

"Hey, welcome to Thursday night at the Funcade! Are you ready?" Jennifer chirped out. Before Mike could answer, she interrupted him, "Let me answer that; no. You are not ready for what's coming tonight, so you need to listen to me. Chance ratted you out; I know about you running around the Funcade all night. That stops now." Mike fought the urge to roll his eyes at the scolding, until Jennifer continued. "Because if you pull anything like that tonight, you're going to get yourself seriously hurt. Bobby Black Sheep comes out tonight."

Something about it was both amusing and overwhelmingly disturbing. Such an innocent sounding name and yet Mike knew it was misleading. Naturally the most innocent would be the most aggressive, especially being that this would be the eighth and final animatronic.

"Bobby Black Sheep is Bo Peep's second sheep, but don't think it's another small thing you can nudge around. It's a full sized animatronic and it is much more determined to get to you. Bobby only comes out between one and one-thirty, three and three-thirty, and sometimes at five. So, it will leave you alone after these intervals of thirty minutes, but it is during these moment that you really need to be worried."

"I'll keep an eye out. How do I scare it off?" Mike inquired. He sent a glance over at the stage, hearing Hickory moving around.

"You don't. You just wait it out," Jennifer answered.

"No, come on, seriously. I won't leave the office, I just need to know how to defend myself," Mike stated with slight exasperation. This evaporated soon afterwards.

"You can't scare off Bobby. It's right now in the play tunnels, but it will come out, come to the office, and try to find you, and there's nothing that scares it off and nothing that works to deflect it… The only way to avoid it is to play a form of hide and seek. Basically, hide before it appears and hope it doesn't find you. Hiding under the desk, or in the supply closet when it sees you, just won't work…" Jennifer herself sounded anxious at the reveal. It was like she was genuinely worried about his safety and that worried him.

"Why hasn't anyone tried to fix it?" Mike asked as he watched Hickory step down and wander off. "We were talking about Afton's; why didn't it get sent back to Afton's for maintenance?"

"Afton basically shut down all contact after the fiasco with the missing monkey. I know some people tried to work on it. Chance tried to work on it, but it keeps- Bobby will undo any fixing. Bobby will break itself and nobody knows why." There was a moment of quietness. "Bobby is almost completely broken in the sense that there is no way to control it. During the day it stays still, but at night it turns into  _this_. All of these animatronics do this, act like this, and nobody really knows why."

"But there is a reason," Mike insisted, "and if you know then I need you to tell me. Maybe there's a way to fix it."

"…I'm going to do a little investigating tonight," Jennifer suddenly admitted. "I've got some of the old files and… I'm going to see if I can find anything. It's about time that someone figured out what is wrong with them. They aren't supposed to act like this."

"I know," Mike admitted.

"And you know, there's rumors that this was going on at Freddy's too," Jennifer pointed out, getting more wound up with each word. "That they had animatronics over there that were attacking staff!"

" _I know_ ," Mike admitted.

"…You do?" Jennifer quietly asked. The phone call became silent as Mike refused to say anything more. He didn't have to answer that question. "Oh… Oh, that explains some things…" This was followed with an uncomfortable silence. Neither Mike nor Jennifer really knew what to say at this point. "Uh… I guess I'll let you go."

"Anything else I should know?" Mike dared to inquire. "I couldn't bring that tape recorder in."

"That could've helped with Bobby… But then again, it only works sometimes. It might not even work on Bobby like intended…" It was clear that Jennifer was pulling back now that he had revealed that he knew more than let on previously. Thankfully, Mike still hid behind a fake name and the possibility of not returning the next night. He was already considering a list of excuses to get out of it. "Just… Keep an eye out, don't hide in the same place twice, and I'm going to see what I can find out. If you had some idea of what happened with Freddy's, then maybe we can figure out what's going on."

Now Jennifer was falling into the same trap as Mike, which he didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. It meant that she wouldn't tell on him to the higher ups, at least, but it could mean that he would be coerced to give out answers about Freddy's. Which was safe enough unless she somehow linked him to Foxy's.

"I'm going to hang up. Stay safe," Jennifer forewarned and the call ended. Now Mike was stuck with the incoming threat of the animatronics.

For the first hour, everything was business as usual. Sly had appeared and hid behind one of the nearby Skee ball machines, intending to rush the office if Mike got distracted, but he had managed to keep him back. Hickory and Dickory continued to circle the office, but didn't detect him. Again, it was only the first hour, so Mike wasn't too surprised. What did start to alarm him was the change between twelve thirty and one o'clock.

The sheep passed by once, Boy Blue appeared twice without much activity, the mice stopped passing by, Bo Peep didn't even appear once, and as one in the morning crept closer, Sly all but vanished from immediate sight. Mike was left entirely alone and he knew that this was because of the arrival of Bobby. He watched the cameras and his watch, waiting for the final animatronic to appear.

It was only a few minutes after one when Mike was alerted to a new sound. It was a dull thumping and rustling sound coming from the inside of the plastic play tunnels, and he only knew this from the direction and the clear sound of scuffling on plastic. He tried to get glance through the camera, but none of them aimed in the direction towards the tunnels. There was a sliding noise that was followed by a rustling in the ball pit as something fell out of the slide and landed amongst the colorful spheres.

Mike decided to act by trying the closet on the wall behind him. To his luck, it was left unlocked, and so he slid inside. The closet was incredibly tight and filled with various cleaning supplies. It reeked of lemon scented clearer and he couldn't risk moving anything or he would risk making noise. Unfortunately, the slits on the top of the door, which seemed perfect to look through from the outside, were almost impossible to look through at such an angle. Mike was lift blind in a tight, dark room.

But as his sight left him, his hearing took its place. It only took a few minutes, but something entered the office. The noise was strange, as though it was dragging a lame limb along the ground, but it also sounded like it was moving with four legs; like a sheep would if designed with the smaller one in mind. It didn't much of a vocal noise except for an airy hum, like a computer would make if under duress. Frankly, Mike wondered if Jennifer had exaggerated about Bobby's behavior, but decided to take her advice.

The animatronic left the office after only ten minutes, but Mike hesitated on leaving and instead cracked the door enough to see his watch in the light.  _"I could be standing in my own closet right now and probably would make more an hour,"_ Mike mentally remarked. Then he noticed the distant sound of the animatronic. He pressed his ear against the crack and listened in.  _"She's in the hall… Coming this way."_ Mike considered waiting and getting a glimpse of the animatronic, but then decided to pull back into the closet and shut the door.

The rest of the time until one-thirty was rather uneventful. It continued circling around and eventually returned to the ball pit. Mike left the supply closet and returned to his seat, and could hear the scratching and scuffling as Bobby climbed back into the tunnels. So far, so good. Less than ten minutes later, Boy Blue reappeared and started fiddling with the thermostat; it was back to normal.

The animatronics did become more antsy around this time. Now Mike had to keep a constant eye out for both Doc and Bo Peep as they were setting each other off. The Sheep would hit Hickory's foot, Bo Peep would rush in, Doc would rush in, and Mike would watch from the desk with a look of disbelief. The smallest noise would alert them and they were on constant patrol. The only thing that seemed to be in Mike's favor was that the animatronics didn't actively wander into the office. It was as though they couldn't actually tell that the office was there.

Except Sly; Sly kept his eyes on the prize. Sly continued to creep closer to the office, eventually getting close enough that Mike was unable to get up and fix the thermostat. Sly was the threat of the evening, Mike believed, but he just couldn't make it into the office. A few minutes before three and Sly was still peering around the corner on the right side of the office. It almost seemed like the weasel was determined enough to stay even though all the other animatronics had vanished.

Only a minute or two after three and Mike recognized the clatter and noise of the animatronic sliding into the ball pit. It had been so abrupt that he slightly twitched in response; he wouldn't admit to jumping. He kept his eyes on Sly and watched with even more surprise, as Sly reacted immediately to the sound. The weasel's head turned and it stared down towards the ball pit. Then, without a single noise or any other cues, Sly disappeared down the hall. Almost like he was avoiding Bobby, as Mike guessed before.

But Bobby was different this time. It was faster and Mike could hear its heavy footsteps and trademark dragging sound. Remembering Mike's suggestion, he left the office and headed down the opposite hallway that Sly took. Halfway down the hall, Sly poked his head around the end of the hall.

"Damn it…" Mike muttered. His options were limited; he could already hear the black sheep coming in this direction. Keeping his eyes on Sly, Mike slipped into the closest bathroom and let the door close behind him. Considering what he saw earlier, he just assumed that the two animatronics would get stuck on each other and neither would be able to get the bathroom door open. Either way, Mike locked himself into the middle stall and stood uncomfortably, intending on sitting out the thirty minutes standing in a cold, stagnant bathroom.

Still, it could've been worse. It could've been Freddy's… And then the bathroom door started to open.

" _Of course. Why do I even try?"_ Mike mentally muttered as he stepped up onto the toilet. He inwardly cringed as he braced himself on the edges of the stall.  _"I think I would've had an easier time throwing myself into a dumpster. Might've been cleaner."_ The dull dragging noise echoed through the bathroom as the animatronic shuffled along beside the stalls. Mike's interest piqued and he considered peering over the stall to get a look. It would be an awkward motion, but he was tall enough to lean forward and look over the stall.

He just barely managed to not lose his footing as he leaned forward and looked over the top of the stalls. He almost wished that he hadn't, because he wasn't ready for what he saw crawling along the floor.

Jennifer hadn't exaggerated when she said that Bobby was broken. The sheep's arms and legs were turned so that it could shuffle on all fours, even though it was obviously made to walk on its legs like the normal animatronics. It had on tattered clothes and faux black wool, but the wool peeled back on its arms and legs to reveal the endoskeleton hiding underneath. It struggled to peddle itself along the ground and reached a flimsy hand under the stall door.

However, Mike was less worried about that and much more concerned by its face. Its face was slid up to the top of its head and the plastic mask stared with empty eyeholes and a gaping smile. It was clear that the mask had slid off the endoskeleton head and now sat useless on the top of its hidden face. From this view, it was almost impossible to see where its real face was looking. Indeed, it was broken, but this was more unsettling than Mike could've imagined. Especially since it had been revealed that it did this to itself.

Bobby seemed to give up on the stall that Mike was in and moved onto the next one. It didn't seem like it noticed the door was locked and continued to struggle to push itself along. With a bang, it knocked open the third stall, seemingly believing he was in it. With a deep inhale, Mike unlocked the latch on the door and leapt out. He made a break toward the door and flung himself through.

As soon as Mike stumbled through the bathroom door, the rapid sound of approaching footsteps reminded him that Sly had not left. Mike turned and made a mad dash around the corner, finding himself face to face with Bo Peep who was standing in front of the desk. She turned her head to him, let out a mechanically shrill cry, and reached out for him. Mike ducked under her arms and put the desk between them, turning around just in time to see Sly rush in. He struggled with his flashlight, still in his belt, as he hurried back to the supply closet and threw himself into it.

Sly caught the door before Mike could shut it and it became a tug of war. All of Mike's senses were dulled and most thoughts were completely erased. Between Bo Peep still making shrill calls from the desk and Bobby due to appear at any moment, he was about to be fully cornered. He used his weight to hold the door semi-closed and used his free hand to finally get the flashlight free. Instantly, he let go of the door and it flung open. Sly proceeded to shove his grotesque face into opening, only to have the light of the flashlight shined directly into its eyes.

Once Sly's grip went slack, Mike slammed the supply closet door shut and shut the animatronics out. Then he waited and listened. He could hear when Sly left, he could hear Bo Peep continue to shriek until she left to avoid Bobby, and he could hear Bobby's scuttling into the office. While he had avoided Bobby twice already, Mike had a feeling that it truly was dangerous, and decided it was best to avoid the sheep as much as possible. By three-thirty, Bobby finally returned to the ball pit, and Mike stepped back out into the office.

The next hour and a half was eventful enough. The animatronics only became more determined in their efforts as they continued to pass by the office. Bo Peep was especially restless and reacted to seeing Mike by emitting shrieks. Most of the time she would leave, but as it got closer to five in the morning, Bo Peep became more restless. The final straw finally came only a few minutes after five. Mike was already supposed to be on the lookout for Bobby, but the sheep had made no attempt to leave the tunnels. Just the same, the other animatronics had not made any attempt to leave.

Mike was about ready to slip out when Bo Peep threw another 'tantrum'. She stood outside the office and let of a perturbed shriek, but seemed either unwilling or unable to circle the office desk. While it was annoying, Bo Peep's yells had not drawn attention from the other animatronics and usually were brief before she eventually left.

This time, someone took attention, and Bo Peep's shriek was followed by the guttural groan of Doc. Out of reflex, Mike slid underneath the desk and prepared to hold out until Doc left. The mouse slammed his fists onto the desk only once before it did something new. It gripped the edge of the desk and began to lift, struggling with it. It couldn't lift the heavy desk at this rate, Mike realized, but the sound of approaching footsteps forewarned coming danger.

It was like Doc had summoned the other mice to his aid, as Hickory and Dickory stepped out of the woodwork and stood at the desk. They too reached down and grabbed the edges of the desk, and then eagerly tried to assist Doc in lifting it up. The desk started to raise and Mike knew his hiding spot was now worthless. Quickly, he climbed out under the only safe side of the desk and decided to cut his losses. With brief consideration, he decided to shove himself past Hickory, the slower and weaker of two mice blocking his way, and made a break for the hall beside the bathrooms.

Bo Peep was the one hounding his trail. She walked with speedy, but swift steps, with her hands reaching out grasping after the security guard.  _"Screw five-twenty, I'm leaving now,"_ Mike muttered as he hurried down to the exit door. He pressed on the door and attempted to shove it open, but there was resistance.

"What?" Mike muttered and pushed again. The door refused to give. "Damn it!" he muttered under his breath and took a step back, checking his watch.  _"It can't unlock at five-twenty… I've had to been early at least once. This doesn't make sense,"_ Mike mentally assessed the scenario with disbelief. There wasn't an obvious lock on the door and the metal door was too heavy to knock down. He checked his watch; five-seven. Thirteen minutes to kill; thirteen minutes was plenty enough to get him killed.

As Bo Peep rounded the corner, Mike made the decision to try the front door. He hurriedly passed the hallway by the office and got only as far as the aisle tucked between the machines when his way was blocked. There, waiting at the end and peeking around, was none other than Sly. Mike only had a moment to register this before he heard the thundering footsteps behind him and looked back just long enough to see Doc slam into the arcade machines in his attempt to circle the corner.

Mike darted down the aisle between the machines, looking back in time to see Sly peer around the corner and then promptly be knocked aside by Doc barging through. It tilted its head in a crooked fashion as it ran, attempting to hear and locate the human, and Mike picked up the pace. Hickory and Dickory waited to catch him at the end of the aisle, blocking him from the front door, but Mike skidded out of the way and ran for the office again. Right as he prepared to run down the hall, back to the back doors, he came to a halt.

Sly had ran to one of the halls beside the office while Bo Peep was blocking the other. Hickory, Dickory, and Doc were still moving in, blocking his access to the front doors, only slowing down for a moment to regain their bearings. Inside of the office, waiting slumped at the front of the desk, was Boy Blue. They were all here and they were all cornering him back towards the kitchen. Mike knew that the kitchen was a death sentence; there was no escape from inside and the chances of hiding were very unlikely.

He scrambled for an escape. His phone, his flashlight- and then fell back on one desperate idea. He had not brought the music box, but maybe these animatronics were like Marionette.  _"Maybe they'll react to a voice… It could be the song, not what plays it,"_ Mike mentally accessed.  _"Well, if this goes bad then I'm dead anyway. Might as well just go through with it."_ With that single thought, Mike inhaled and took a step back as Doc started to threateningly move in.

"~My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf, so it stood ninety years on the floor." To Mike's immediate surprise, Doc came to an abrupt halt. Spurred on by this, he continued the song. "~It was taller by half than the old man himself, though weight not a single pound more." The animatronics looked restless and… twitchy. Especially Sly; Sly wasn't reacting well to the music, but that didn't mean that they were coming any closer.

"~It was bought on the morn of the day he was born and was always his treasure and pride…" Mike paused for a moment, feeling his heart palpitating. "~But it stopped, short, never to go again when the old man died." Maybe, just maybe, he could get around the stage. He took a step closer to it and the edge of the ball pit. The animatronics seemed to just stare, as though entranced.

It had always fascinated him how Marionette both reacted to and controlled music. While songs could easily affect him, Mike had witnessed this, he had also witnessed Marionette using music to influence other animatronics. The thought that he had somehow figured out a loophole in this phenomenon- perhaps it was the songs and not the singers- had suddenly turned the tides in his favor.

"~Ninety years without slumbering, his life second numbering," Mike murmured as he approached the stage, closing in. They watched him with widened eyes and he stared back. "~It stopped." Closer. "~Short." Almost to the stage. "~Never to go again when the old man…" Mike trailed off at the sound of something squeaking in very close proximity. Then a gentle rustling, along with the familiar sound of sliding metal. His blood ran cold and his pulse only quickened as he turned back, bracing himself.

There was Bobby, lifting itself out of the ball pit and hunched down on its broken and battered arms and legs. Its plastic 'face' was still slid up onto the top of its head as it cocked its head upwards and revealed the skull-like endoskeleton hidden under the ratty wool. Its cold, yellow eyes locked onto him and he knew in an instant that he was out of time.

It wasn't the song that had stopped the animatronics. They just hadn't wanted to get any closer to Bobby.

With a croak of a howl, an unholy noise that sounded less like something a sheep would make and more like something a wolf would choke out, Bobby sprung forward. Mike was knocked back against the stage as it pawed at him with useless hands and bared chipped, sharpened endoskeleton teeth. Its head struck towards his throat and Mike had less than a second to shield himself with his arm. The teeth shredded through his jacket and sliced his skin easily and with all the force it would've used on his neck.

The other animatronics watched silently as the black sheep attempted to maul Mike. It shook its head and tore further into the flesh and fabric. The pain was immediately numbed by the adrenaline and Mike was more than prepared to fight back. He grabbed for his belt as he tried to shove Bobby off with his foot. It was obvious that Bobby wasn't going to release its grip, even though its endoskeleton mouth was supposed to be weaker. Mike briefly released his belt and grabbed Bobby by the top of the head, angling the 'sheep's' head back.

The mask stretched and tore underneath his grasp; it was as flimsy and limp as over stretched rubber. Eventually he managed to get ahold of the metal skull through the exterior and pried further back, using blunt force to contort the animatronic back. Bobby's neck cracked as its head tilted back, but it felt no pain. It simply continued to try and push back. Finally, its teeth released from Mike's arm and he reached down with his injured arm for something on his belt. Then he released his hold on Bobby's head and tried to hold it back with his foot alone.

Bobby swung its head forward and dove in with every intention to bite again. Mike thrust his hand forward at the last second.

Bobby's attack was abruptly halted by seizing as electricity crackled through its body. Mike pulled himself back against the stage, careful not to touch the animatronic, and kept the tazer firmly planted on the side of its skull. The smell of burning wool became overpowering and he swore he could see the faintest smoke.

As soon as the tazer was yanked back, Bobby slumped to the ground and Mike scrambled back to his feet. He turned on the other animatronics and threateningly held out the tazer, ignoring the burning in his arm.

"Which one is next?!" he threatened. "I've fried things bigger and stronger than any of you! One wrong move and it's  _another_  controlled shock!" They didn't respond and he didn't know if they even understood him, but they didn't move in. He grabbed his flashlight and stepped up onto the stage to scoot by the group, keeping his back to the stage and the wall. None of them moved, save Bobby who proceeded to slide back into the ball pit. Other than that, the arcade was extremely quiet, and he checked his watch. Two minutes to spare.

Mike dropped down off the stage and passed within five feet of Bo Peep. Before he headed down the hall, he did a headcount of the group. They all were there, but Sly was already standing at the opening to the other hall at the other side of the office. Tightening his grip on the tazer, Mike turned and hurried down the hall. As expected, he heard rapid footsteps and quickened his pace. He knew that it was Sly and was entirely unsurprised to see him peering around when he turned the corner.

"Don't do it," Mike threatened, pointing the tazer at him. "Don't even try it, weasel. I swear, I'll fry you for fun." He hurried to the door, keeping his back against it and waiting for the lights to die. A few seconds passed, then a few more, and then the lights died. Mike threw himself back against the door and Sly sprinted after him, but the security guard just barely managed to make a mad dash across the parking lot to his care. Not that Sly followed; as before, the weasel refused to step out of the door.

It wasn't until Mike was in the car with the door slammed shut that he felt anywhere close to safe. He turned on the car and began to speed out of the parking lot. His heart was pounding and his vision began to narrow as his speed picked up. Then, all at once, the pain hit him and he remembered that he had been injured. Between that and the fact that he was driving fast enough to get pulled over, he knew he had to stop. One swerve later and Mike was sitting on the side of the road.

He could feel the panic setting in. Even though it was all over, even though he was safe, the panic was still creeping in. Like cold fingers crawling along his arms, it forewarned of danger that wasn't there, cloaking his vision in edges of darkness. Mike forced himself to breathe deeply and reached upwards to turn on the lights inside the car, then shrugged off his jacket. He winced at the movements as the blood stuck the fabric to his arm. Then he was finally able to see the damage that Bobby had done.

His skin was sliced deeply and was still lightly bleeding, but it wasn't as bad as he expected. "Doesn't need stitches… Probably. I'm not going back to the hospital," Mike muttered to himself. "Yeah, no, that's the last thing I need. Them asking questions about this kind of bite in the middle of the night, how would I even cover this up?" His uncomfortable mutters were abruptly cut off by a new realization; how would he hide this from Marionette? The simple answer was that he couldn't.

Marionette was going to be asking where he was and was going to notice the marks on his arm. Even if he could get it cleaned up, Mike couldn't erase the gashes, and the Puppet would surely notice them. The security guard rubbed his face tiredly and tried to suppress his trembling, the panic increasing. He felt a wave of nausea and threw open the driver's side door, leaning out into the cooler night air and forcing himself to take a few deep breaths. The results of one mistake was now branded on his arm.

It turned out that Mike was going to keep his promise; he was going to have to tell Marionette the truth.

He reached back for his uniform jacket and wrapped it around his forearm in a makeshift bandage, then shut the door and started to drive once more. It would just be easier if he got home as quickly as possible. As for now, Mike had to put his feeling aside, even as the panic gripped his body. He fought past it and continued driving, using the long stretch of road to calm down himself down. It almost worked.

He wasn't going back willingly. For once, he was going to make Thursday his final night.

* * *

"Mike!" Marionette chirped in delight as he slid the shoebox out from under his bed. "Mike, I found my Freddy figures! I didn't even remember that I still had these!" He gathered the shoebox into his arms and headed to his bedroom door, opening it with his telekinesis, and looking through his box of old 'Toy' toys. They looked almost just like the real thing, save the fact that he lacked one of himself. "Mike?" He called down the hallway and towards the living room. "Mike, where are you?"

Seeing that Mike wasn't in the living room, he looked over towards the kitchen and entered inside. He noticed the pantry door cracked and opened it to stare down into  _the stairs that led into the basement._

" _Mike!" he called down into the basement. "Did you hear me?" There was no response and Marionette set the figures down on the steps before continuing down. "Where are you?"_

" _Hello!"_

_Marionette came to a sudden halt mid-way down the stairs. His voice went silent, his body went still, and he stared at the bottom of the stairs. After a few moments, he continued down and entered a large, dark room. It looked suspiciously like he was inside of Afton's from the flooring, but this was the basement, and Mike was down here somewhere._

" _Mike?" Marionette called again, daring to use his voice once more. It echoed through the huge space. "Where have you gone?"_

" _Hi!"_

_Again, the cry of a familiar voice, but a voice that shouldn't have been able to speak at all. The Puppet continued a little further and was suddenly struck with a sight in the shadows. "BB?" To Marionette surprise, there stood a familiar figure in the center of the room. It was none other than Balloon Boy, standing alive and well. While it made little sense, the Puppet's confusion turned to joy. He chimed in delight as he looked down at his old friend. Balloon Boy responded with delighted laughter. Without a hitch, Marionette dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around Balloon Boy-_

_-and Balloon Boy fell into pieces._

_His head and arms, his exterior plates and pieces, everything simply fell apart in Marionette's arms. He stared down at the remains and at the head that stared at him with empty holes for eyes. It was only a shell; just as he had remembered. Suddenly, something dark and unsettling started to fall over the room._

" **Where did the last one go** _?" Somewhere there was a muffled voice. Something about it was familiar, but he couldn't place where he had heard it. "_ **Wasn't there supposed to be six of them** _?"_

_He didn't want to hear it. Marionette covered his face to hide himself from the voices that he couldn't block out. He remembered that voice. He remembered the sinking feeling of being entirely along, yet it felt as though dozens of eyes were staring down and judging him. It felt like abandonment; it felt like anger and sadness._

_It smelled like copper. Marionette peered down at the remains of Balloon Boy only to find him missing, and in his place were a few droplets of blood resting on the floor._

"… _Mike?" The animatronic looked forward and noticed more drops leading along the polished ground, and he followed them. They became more frequent until eventually breaking for a spatter across the floor. "Michael?!" There was just so much redness on the ground. So much blood. Too much; a human couldn't survive losing this much. The sound of dripping became louder and he passed a clump of bloody clothing._

_He was panicking. Something had hurt Mike and now he was bleeding out. He wouldn't survive a third time. Marionette couldn't save him. He reached into the darkness before him and felt a cold hand reaching back-._

And suddenly Marionette was on the couch, sprawled out across it with his body dangerously close to falling off. The revelation that it was a nightmare did nothing to calm him down and he jolted out of the bed. All it took was an instant of seeing the bed empty and catching the five-twenty on the clock before he knew that Mike had not returned home. Any semblance of calmness was gone; Marionette was wound as tightly as he could be and he was just about to be sprung- just as soon as Mike got home.

Marionette didn't even try to return to sleep. He just circled the living room with static on his voice and the images of the nightmare pounding in his mind. He didn't want to think about the others, he didn't want to think about past decisions; he just wanted to think about what exactly he was going to say when Mike got home. If he could even talk straight once Mike got home. Even if he was relieved that Mike was going to be coming home, he couldn't let this go. He couldn't handle another night of this.

Eventually, Mike's car pulled into the driveway. Marionette stopped his pacing and proceeded to stand in front of the door, so that Mike would not be able to weasel past him. There was no covering his glare, which in and of itself covered the fear that still lingered from the nightmare. The key turned in the lock and the door opened to reveal the human in question, who immediately noticed Marionette. Meanwhile, the Puppet couldn't suppress the surge of static and was nearly overwhelmed by his dozens of questions.

Then he saw the blood. As soon as Marionette saw it caked onto his arm, the static turned into silence. The house went quiet.

"Don't be alarmed, it's just a couple of scratches," Mike forewarned as he pushed the door shut and locked it. In stark contrast to what he said, he looked visibly shaken and something just seemed off about his motions. Marionette closed the gap between them and took his arm into his hands, studying the injury. A look of horror passed his porcelain and he looked upwards at Mike in questioning. Mike didn't try to explain. He just looked away, trying to cover his guilt but not able to cover his shame.

Neither spoke, as neither knew what they were supposed to say. It took a few moments for Marionette to recover enough to look down from his staring and glance over the wound. With a soft noise resembling a sigh, he coaxed Mike to the couch with a gentle tug of his arm and then went for the first aid supplies. By time he returned, Mike was hunched over with his head in his hands, and only looked over once the other male settled on the couch beside him.

The Puppet guided his arm into his own lap and cradled it affectionately. He began to clean away the dried blood with a wet paper towel and proceeded by dabbing on peroxide. Mike decided not to watch, as he could feel everything that Marionette did and didn't feel comfortable watching it. He was having a hard-enough time sitting here when he was so physically and mentally exhausted. Marionette looked over at him, but remained silent in his concern to give the human a brief period of respite.

It was while applying the antibiotic ointment that Marionette abruptly realized what kind of wound it was. It was the pattern of the scratches, which were largely uniform, and their precise cut that alerted him that it was a bite wound. Suddenly the dream returned with a cold vengeance and all at once he knew it was from another animatronic. He didn't know where Mike was going or what he had been doing, or even which it was, but some other animatronic had gotten ahold of him and had gotten close enough to bite him.

Another animatronic had gotten ahold of Mike, of  _his_ Mike, and Marionette couldn't have stopped it in time.

Mike was pulled out of his daze by the feeling of something wet landing on his arm. He glanced over and noticed the purple that now stained his skin. His eyes widened and he looked upwards at Marionette, who wiped the purple away and began to bandage the wound with the supplies that were left-over from Mike's last injury. Marionette's face was solemn as he did his work, but the tears dripping down his mask were a dead giveaway to the emotions he was covering up.

"Mari…" Mike began, but didn't know what he was supposed to say. Everything felt so out of sorts that he wasn't certain what would be appropriate. "Don't cry, Mari. It's just a couple of scratches."

Marionette secured the bandages and finished his work, but then went largely idle, keeping ahold of Mike's arm. Tentatively, he laid his hand in Mike's; it felt almost identical to the dream. He couldn't suppress the out of tune noise that rang hollowly in his chest. Hearing this, Mike decided to no longer sit idly by and slid closer to wrap his uninjured arm around Marionette.

"I'm home now. It's all over, I promise," Mike assured as his hand slid to cup his mask. There was a comfort in the feeling of porcelain underneath his fingers. "I'm safe, you're safe, we're home… It's all fine." The exaggeration almost made Mike feel a bit better. He pulled Marionette in close to his chest and clung to him with reluctance to let go. The Puppet was originally unresponsive, seemingly entrapped by his own thoughts, but eventually returned the embrace. Marionette's grip was tight and protective, and absolutely unwavering.

Six in the morning had never felt so grim.


	71. Chapter 71

Scott didn't know what had woken him.

He groggily opened his eyes and stared at the darkness of his bedroom tiredly. He had been spending so much more time in here since yesterday's talk with Fritz and yet he didn't feel comfortable. Maybe it was the nagging thirst at his throat, or perhaps just the prolonged stress. He tiredly scooted across the bed and reached for his glass of water, barely reflecting the light from the window above his bed. He slid upwards in bed as he brought it to his lips and then moved to set the glass back down.

It was then that he noticed the figure looming beside the bedroom door. Not until now had he noticed it, as it had been angled behind him, but he could clearly see the form and the light reflecting off the wires. The glass slipped from his fingers and crashed against the floor, causing his male cat to bolt from the room. The mother still seemed to be in bed with the kittens, but she was probably just as startled. The form by the door even twitched in reaction to the broken glass. Scott held his breath as he stared.

"Ennard…?" Scott choked out in questioning. "I… What- How'd you get in here…?" The bedroom door was cracked open, so perhaps it somehow unlocked the door. That was a sickening thought.

"I think I've been very patient with you," Ennard accused. Thankfully, he had returned to his female voice, meaning that it was much less intimidating. Scott still felt a vice around his throat at the words. "I don't understand. I did everything you wanted me to and you  _locked me out again._ " Its voice crackled with the heavy 'breathing' sound. It was loud enough that it almost sounded like a backdrop of moaning to everything he said. "You trusted me before, so what did I do wrong? Why are you avoiding me?"

"I-I'm not."

"You're  _lying_ ," Ennard bluntly stated. Its voice dropped in pitch at the very end, and it was enough to cause Scott to shudder. Perhaps it was an accidental glitch in the voice, but it was another disturbing this to hear. "Don't lie to me. I want to know. I want to know why you keep locking me away from you."

"I-I'm lying? You're the one wh-ho lied!" Scott broke out before he could control himself. His heart was racing and the shaking in his arms was starting to ache, but he continued. "You- You pretended you were someone else to have- so that they'd bring you out of ARI. Fritz told me everything, he told me they were bringing Baby, he said- he told- he told-," he choked as his voice briefly got caught in a seize. With a cough, he recovered, "He told me that you were-!" Yet the last word couldn't make it out.

Scott reigned himself in because if he acknowledged Ennard was dangerous, then Ennard would become dangerous. He didn't know if he could handle that.

"That you were… Th-That you were down in ARI still…" Scott caught his breath and tried to control the shaking on his arms. "That you're not one- you're a few animatronics, and that ma-makes sense being that you change voices, but I wouldn't have ever thought- You should have just told me, but you didn't."

"I didn't lie," Ennard responded back. It was still the female voice, but it sounded a bit hollower. As though all the personality had been sucked straight out of it.

"J-Just leaving things out and doing it to hide things, saying things or making- convincing people of things that aren't true, that's lying. Even if you don't say it, that's lying," Scott stated as though scolding a child. "You… I let you out and you… You were fine with me just not knowing anything, weren't you?" At this point, the pain was getting worse. Scott sat up on the bed and turned to face the wall, back to Ennard, trying to ride out the prickling feeling along his spine.

The room wasn't quiet. He could always hear that hushed, panting sound. Only now did Scott start to wonder what it was, but he had no desire to ask about it.

"I'm sorry… I just wanted to protect us…"

Unlike the aggressiveness earlier, the voice was gentle and almost difficult to hear with the lower volume. "I didn't want you to know what we had to do to escape that place. They did things to them- to us down there. I had to leave… Even if I had to be Baby to do it." Scott's lungs hurt; he assumed it was from holding his breath, but couldn't get himself to breathe properly. He didn't like where this conversation was going. "The truth is that I pretend to be a lot of people… We all did."

That last part stood out. "We?"

"We just wanted to be together as one, so we left our bodies and joined into this one. Is that wrong?" It paused for only a few seconds. "But it's not easy sharing one body. Sometimes we don't know what to do. We all have ideas and we all take turns deciding which we should make. Sometimes one of us knows what is right, sometimes another doesn't. We don't do it to hurt anyone… We just can't go back. Not again." The breathing briefly grew more intense, but died down as it continued.

"Everything Fritz told you is true. He doesn't understand, but he is right… I didn't want to scare you away." It was too late. Scott was already regretting everything. He couldn't run, he couldn't fight back, and all he could do was just sit here and hope that Ennard didn't suddenly decide to kill him… Or Ennard's 'other' personalities decide that.

"…You don't look alright," Ennard remarked and the soft voice lowered in concern. "You're not saying anything."

"I can't do this," Scott nearly choked out. "I don't know what- what made you think that you could just… You need to go." After this, the room went entirely silent. Even the breathing had stopped and Ennard stood silently. The human's hands tightened on the edge of the bed. "Please, leave."

It took the animatronic an excruciatingly long time, but eventually it followed his request and he could hear it leave the bedroom. The door was left open and yet Scott already felt largely better. His body was already starting to relax without the many eyes of Ennard staring down his back.

But it wasn't like he could relax again. While the pain started to relieve itself without the pressure, the new information was just enough to leave Scott concerned. This was terrible news; this confirmed that Ennard truly was dangerous. At any minute, one of Ennard's personalities could decide that it wanted him dead, and it sounded like the others couldn't do anything to stop it.

Scott had a bad history of trusting dangerous people because they could be affectionate. Not just William, but William was definitely the best example of this. William was unpredictable; a clear liar, a master manipulator, and one who knew how to use people for his own means. Ennard could easily be the same way and Scott would give in, filling the same void he tried to fill with William. Only this time was different, because Ennard was an animatronic; he had all the means to back up any sudden thought with an abrupt ending.

There was a clinking sound from somewhere out in the house. Ennard was rummaging through something in the house, not that Scott intended to go out and find what it was. He wasn't even certain if he needed to get up and attempt locking the door again, less the animatronic barge right back in. Instead, he looked over at the cat bed in the corner. He was relieved to see that everyone was in their place. At least the kittens were growing fine and were away from Ennard's interest. It was some form of normality.

…Maybe this was it. Maybe he needed to tell Fritz the truth and that he couldn't handle 'Baby', before he got in any deeper.

The footsteps started to come back to the room and Scott tiredly rubbed over the scars littering his face, " _What was that, five minutes?... I guess I should be happy he left at all… 'They' left at all."_ Almost immediately, he felt his throat clench.  _"This whole time it's been 'they'. I've been- I've had a whole cast living in my house!... I've always been outnumbered."_ His thoughts died as Ennard stepped back inside the room.

The amalgam approached the corner of the bed and set something down on the bed beside the human. Then it took a few steps back towards the door and stopped in the doorway. Scott slowly turned his head to look at the offering, though largely did so to watch Ennard out of his peripheral. It turned out to be a bowl that it had set down and some squinting revealed that it looked to be ice cream. It was just a bowl of ice cream that Ennard had brought him for whatever reason.

Scott looked over towards Ennard for an explanation. Ennard had suddenly decided to go mute and did nothing more than watch. It was almost as though it knew it was on thin ice, which was possible considering that Scott had technically commanded it to leave the room. Even if it did return only a few minutes later. "Uh… Thanks."

He took the cold bowl into his hands and moved it into his lap. It was just the ice cream from the freezer and nothing had been done to it, so it seemed safe enough to eat. A tentative taste reassured that the ice cream had not been tainted and while he wasn't exactly wanting to eat, the comfort food was something that he wouldn't turn down.

The sound that Ennard made was different this time. It was a strange rubbing noise and seemed to be his wires rustling together, but it came out almost in a contented way. It seemed happy that Scott took its gift. Perhaps the ice cream was some form of an apology and Scott accepting it meant that he accepted the apology as well. This seemed to make the most logical sense and he acknowledged the animatronic's effort.

Scott had a bad feeling that he was slipping back into the cycle all over again.

* * *

Mike wasn't feeling right when he dragged himself out of his bedroom. Physically he was fine, though a little sore from the weight of Bobby launching herself on him. His arm also felt a little stiff, but the cuts were largely numb and he didn't dare remove the bandage. Something just felt amiss and he could only assume that it was a bruised ego. He gave an exhausted sigh as he headed to the coffee machine. It had already been turned on and the pot was slowly filling with coffee.

He had noticed Marionette in his bedroom searching for something under his bed, but they had yet to talk about last night. Just the thought of it was enough to nearly scare Mike away. He impatiently watched the coffee drain into the pot before deciding that it wasn't enough. After a few moments, he looked out through the window and focused his attention on the sunny day outside. It was only about eleven; which felt early even when it was just from his own lack of sleep.

Before Freddy's, Mike hadn't been so reliant on coffee. He would wake up, go for a run, get a buzz from the adrenaline, and then get home with plenty of time before his shift at work. It seemed like too many of his reflexes were starting to go. Maybe if he had kept running he could have outrun Bobby. With a swing of interest, Mike headed over to the couch and retrieved his shoes from where he left them. They were fine enough for running and it wasn't like he intended to be gone long, lest Marionette strangle him upon return.

Speaking of which, he could hear the Puppet's low chime and looked up to see him lean on the back of the couch. "Where are you going?" Marionette quietly asked. It was almost jarring to hear his voice after the silence the night before.

"Just for a run. Nothing like getting a runner's high while skipping work," Mike suggested with a playful smile. Marionette's expression portrayed a slight bit of worry, so he assured further. "I'm not going anywhere else. I'll call Fritz when I get back. He'll get it. He was the one that told me to stop coming into work bloody." This time, it wasn't a lie. Mike wouldn't be going back to Hickory's, he was determined not to. Maybe he would call Jennifer, just maybe, but he had no intention to return.

"Just be careful… You feel fine enough to go? Your blood pressure is alright?" Marionette questioned.

"Blood pressure?" Mike was both confused and amused by the question. "My blood pressure's fine, Mari. I just ran my arm through a cheese grater." It was at this moment that it clicked that the blood pressure comment was probably a reflex after Fredrick's heart problems. Then again, Fredrick was old enough to be Mike's father, out of shape, and had a history of taking only slight care of himself. It wasn't the same situation in the slightest. "I'll take it easy."

As Mike headed to the door, Marionette followed along behind him, reached out, and squeezed his shoulder affectionately. "I love you. Try not to be too long… There are some things that we need to discuss."

"I'm going to need the runner's high for that," Mike muttered. Though he hadn't intended to say it out loud until it slipped out. He paused momentarily, wondering if he needed to add anything else, and then turned to face the Puppet. Silently, he pulled him into his embrace and held him close. They both needed it, but Mike needed it more. He needed the feeling of warmth, the assurance of safety, and that reminder that he was home, and that nothing could follow him home. He was back in his sanctuary with the only being that truly mattered.

It didn't help that Marionette clung to him with a desperation that he hadn't seen in quite a while. The Puppet always did become more frantic whenever he was injured, and he semi-frequently landed himself into situations where he was injured. It had still been a while since he had last felt the animatronic hold on so tightly. It was as though he truly feared that Mike wouldn't come back. Meanwhile, Mike knew that if he didn't leave that he would have to answer questions immediately, and he needed to clear his head and figure out what exactly he was going to say.

Mike kissed his cheek and drew himself away slowly. "I'll be back in a little while, don't worry." With that, he headed out the door. Marionette watched from the window as Mike headed to the bottom of the driveway, looked down both stretches of road, and eventually started a light run. His gaze followed Mike a few moments before it locked over on his car. His interest intensified and he decided that he wasn't willing to wait another moment if he didn't have to. In the blink of an eye, he was in the backseat.

The coppery smell caught his attention immediately and his focus turned on the back of the driver's seat. He reached down into the floorboard behind it and slipped his hand under the seat. Something smelled like blood and it was strong enough that it had to be significant. His fingers clutched onto fabric and he yanked the object out from under the seat. It was clearly some sort of uniform jacket and Marionette began to scan it. Beyond the small bit of blood and the rips, there was one thing he searched for, and to his luck it was there.

Not all uniforms labelled what company they belonged to, but usually security guard jackets would have a tag or a patch, or something stitched in the collar. Something to proclaim them as security and to what. Then he found it. He found the name boldly presented before him, and it was not Freddy's.

It was  _Hickory, Dickory, and Doc's Funcade._

Whatever emotion it was that suddenly surged through Marionette, he could barely stand it. He only half acknowledged what may have been a shriek from himself, but he was too busy trying to figure out which of the animatronics could've done it- Which of the three interchangeable mice would get that close and how he could get his strings wrapped around them. But along with this anger was the horror of the confirmation; Mike willingly walked in and took the job. Marionette both expected it and couldn't believe it.

Frustrated tremors shook his frame as he slipped further into the floorboard. For a few moments he could only sit there, staring at the sunny day outside the window and trying to figure out what exactly he could do next. The fear of being spotted eventually won out and he teleported back into the house. Then he waited.

Mike stumbled back into the house and headed straight to the sink, filling a glass of water a gulping down a swallow. It hadn't been as hard as he imagined, but he was clearly out of shape in comparison to his running before. There was some sort of high, if it was only from the exhaustion and tenseness in his legs. It was then that Marionette breezed by and shut the front door.

"Welcome home. I thought perhaps we could have that loud conversation now," Marionette swiftly explained. It was obvious that he was suppressing something and Mike looked over in confusion, only to notice the jacket that was being clutched in his hand. Instead, he responded with a swear under his breath. He hadn't even fathomed that the Puppet would search his car while he was gone.

"I can explain," Mike assured. "I'm not just helping our competitors-."

"Mike, you went into a Pizzeria and were attacked by another animatronic. This is more important than the restaurants. This is- This…" Suddenly, Marionette ran out of the collected demeanor. His suspicious look changed to frustration as he glared at the male. "What were you thinking?! You could've been killed! You could've been  _killed by another animatronic_!" He tossed down the jacket as his static grew, muffling his voice. "And you told me  _nothing!_ I couldn't have saved you- I wouldn't have even knew where you were!"

Mike just stayed silent and allowed the Puppet to vent. He had a feeling it would be better that way. Besides, he needed a moment to catch his breath and to calculate his next words.

"And one of those forsaken mice bit you! It could've maimed you, it could've  _killed_ you, and you still kept going back!" Marionette scolded, overwhelmed by horror. "What could you have possibly been thinking?! Why would you lie to me to sneak off to this horrible place?!"

"I don't know what I was thinking," Mike originally started. Marionette's static surged as he slowly moved in, staring Mike down, and he decided to correct this beginning. "Look, it was just for answers. I knew they were connected to Afton's and I had to see what we were up against. Not with competition, not like that, but with these other animatronics. You know what that's like." He paused, inhaled, and continued, "And they've been tweaked by Afton. These things aren't like Chipper's. They act like Freddy, like Foxy; they're calculating."

"But that makes it even worse!" Marionette snapped. "You thought that perhaps I didn't need to know about this?! That I didn't need to know that you were risking your life for 'answers'?!" The Puppet mockingly made quotations. "What answers, Mike? We both know everything!" Of course, he was exaggerating, but he didn't necessarily believe Mike's excuse.

"Trust me, it's a whole different situation than we've dealt with before," Mike firmly stated. "You know that I can hold my own, but there's something wrong with these things over at Hickory's. They're trying to break themselves, they'll break arcade cabinets, and there's this thing that happens at the end of shift where they completely lose their minds!" Without meaning to, his voice grew louder. "I don't know what the hell Afton did to these things, but they're going to hurt someone! They probably already did!"

"They're going to hurt  _you_!" Marionette clarified. "And he did what he always does, Mike! He comes back again and again, and he taints everything he touches!" Suddenly, the ring of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' started to play without his control. Marionette knew he was too wound up, but he couldn't even try to calm down. "I would have  _never_  been able to find you."

"I'm so glad you have such faith in me, considering that I handled Freddy's little stunts without a hitch!" Mike pointed out, slightly offended. After all, he had handled the first three nights without too much of a hitch. He blamed the fourth night incident largely on overconfidence. "The thing jumped me and bit me on the arm, but I shot it with a few volts and got away! If you think some sheep with a displaced face is going to  _kill_ me, then you've-!" He was cut off by Marionette grabbing him by the shoulders and holding him firm.

" _I don't want to lose you too_!" Marionette blurted out. The music turned to a mix of confused notes. "I keep losing everyone that I love- they keep leaving me! They fall apart in my hands and I  _can't_ put them back together! I can't save them!" His voice cracked as he trembled, his anger turning to fear, and turning to despair. "And I just want to keep you alive and I want to keep you safe, but I can't do that if you won't let me. I just can't understand why you didn't tell me…" His voice failed and frustrated tears ran down his mask.

And Mike was rendered speechless. Something about the outburst had simply broke apart whatever defense Mike had for his actions. There simply wasn't a defense for this; he didn't want to defend himself.

Finally, Marionette did manage to recover enough to speak again. His voice was wavering, but slightly calmer. "Now I want you to be honest with me. I want you to be completely  _honest_  with me. Why did you really go to Hickory's? What made you go first, because I need to know why." He didn't know why he needed to know why, he just did. He just wanted to know what would draw Mike into this place.

This time, Mike found honesty coming too easily, and it was honesty that he had yet to even admit to himself.

"It was visiting Mom," Mike admitted. Marionette sadness shifted to confusion. "I just… I came back from there and I needed something to do."

"I don't understand," Marionette quietly said.

"The whole trip made me think about a few things, and I came home and it just…" Mike exhaled and reached up to take the Puppet's hands from his shoulders. "Mari, you know what I used to do at Freddy's. I was the only security guard who kept coming back. I was the one who kept surviving weeks and weeks, who kept getting the call to come back. It was like a test that only I had passed. I became a great security guard and I'm proud of that." He inhaled; he didn't want to say what was about to come out.

"I take a lot of pride in that title, even if it's not worth anything. Being a security guard made me feel like I was someone…" He exhaled again, "Because without Freddy's, I'm literally no one. I've got nothing else to be proud of. There's nothing else that I've done worth its weight in salt. Everything that I have that I'm proud of is connected to me working at a job where animatronics try to kill me."

"That's not true," Marionette protested in a hushed voice.

"It is. Without it I'm just Mike, some guy with the same name as thousands of other people, working nine to five to get by. It didn't bother me, though, not until I came back from there. They made me feel too human, and you know feeling human doesn't usually feel good," Mike explained. Marionette nodded stiffly and suddenly Mike started feeling lightheaded. Instead of releasing the weight from his shoulders, admitting the truth out loud was making him feel out of sorts. He could already feel that it was getting harder to breathe.

"I just needed a pick-me-up, so then I went to Hickory's for answers. I threw myself into some sort of stupid adventure and it backfired spectacularly, because it turns out that the animatronics were just too much…" The dizziness was getting worse and Mike's breathing became more labored. "And I don't know why I didn't tell you. Sometimes it was to protect you, sometimes it was to protect me… Let's be honest, it was just to cover my ass. I just thought I could handle it."

Marionette looked down at their hands. He squeezed onto Mike's, "…You did. You handled it. You survived…" As terrified as Marionette was, he had to give this form of credit. He wanted to give Mike that confidence and he knew this was the one thing that would do it. "Mike, you are so much more than that. I couldn't keep on if something happened to you." He pulled Mike's hands to his chest and held them close. The dull hum of his internal music box could be felt through his fabric. "You are the reason that I am happy. You've made me happy."

The silence was more of a respite than a heaviness. They needed the rest, between the yelling and the dramatic drop into raw emotions. It was all much too heavy. Mike broke it tentatively, "I'm not going back." This time, there was nothing that the Puppet didn't know. It would all be honesty. "I can live with not knowing. I'm not risking it." He pulled the Puppet in again, like he had earlier, and hugged him tightly.

"…At least… At least you figured that out after you were used as a chew toy," Marionette murmured, trying to cautiously ease the mood. It was obvious that he was still upset, but his attention was now on Mike. After all, it wasn't as though either of them could change the past. "Speaking of which, I want to know which of the blind mice touched you."

"It would be easier to list off which ones didn't touch me," Mike remarked. From Marionette's returning static, aimed towards the animatronics, he decided that wasn't the best comment. "There's a black sheep named Bobby running around in the pizzeria. She jumped me after I was cornered." The Puppet proceeded by giving a discontent tune and more frustrated static. "You're not going to go hunt her down or something, right? Because the last thing we need is another animatronic damaging equipment. Someone will be out for blood… Other than you."

"I can control myself… If she had killed you or injured you any worse, then it would be another story, but if I go to Hickory's then I am just making a terrible example of myself," Marionette assured, whether he believed it or not. "…Of course, it would also be different if Hickory's wasn't as far… If I could simply teleport there, it would be a different matter."

"Yeah, you would've been gone the second I said which one it was," Mike remarked with a small, tired smirk. He held on a bit tighter to the Puppet. "I don't want you going anywhere… Because I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to leave you." His expression and tone became more serious, "If there's one thing I do well, it's barely scrape by with my life."

This felt like an assurance. Mike was being honest, his words rang true, and Marionette knew that Mike wasn't going to go back.

…

…But it still ate at him. Surprisingly enough, the thought that  _another animatronic_ attacked  _his_ Mike was too much to suppress, even though he understood why they would attack. If they were like Freddy and the others, they possibly identified Mike as their murderer, and that was something that the Puppet would sympathize with. Or he should've, if he wasn't so bothered by it.

Marionette kept it quiet around Mike and pretended that it wasn't an issue, but he couldn't stay silent forever. So, he looked for an appropriate outlet.

He waited until nightfall and until Mike was distracted with cooking to leave. He teleported to his destination quickly and scanned the room. His arrival was noticed almost immediately.

"Well, well," the graveled voice remarked, "look who decided to come in to work." Foxy's tone held a sort of disappointment that only an older sibling could pull off. He approached the Puppet, leaving Jeremy behind him as he cleaned the trash away from a table, leftover from a party. "Yer Little Lass was looking for you," Foxy pointed out as he crossed his arms and waited for an explanation.

Marionette felt a brief tinge of guilt, both at Chrissy and at Foxy's look, and he rubbed his arms. "I'm sorry, I should have been here… But I found out where Mike's been. It turns out you were right; he has been with a woman," Marionette remarked. Maybe the joke route would make it easier. Foxy's ears twitched in interest. "And she bit him."

"…Where?" That wasn't the follow up question that he expected. Either Foxy was quicker than ever or was seriously curious about the details.

"On the arm. You see, it turns out that Mike was out playing security guard at another establishment," Marionette remarked, tenting his fingers together. "…He's been over at Hickory's."

Foxy straightened immediately with shock, his eyes widened, and his ears perked even further. "What is he doing working over there?!"

"It's complicated, but he doesn't intend to go back," Marionette defended. "But he saw things inside of the arcade. Considering that one of them actually bit him-."

"Who cares what he saw?! He's been over there working with the enemy!" Foxy blurted out in accusation. There were a few silent seconds. "…What did he see?"

"They were like us. They're intelligent, they have their own behaviors, they… One of them bit Mike. Foxy, even you haven't been able to do that. They're obviously not like Chipper and friends," Marionette pointed out. Before he could continue, and he direly wanted to continue, Jeremy heard what was going on and approached.

"H-He was bit?! Oh wow, uh… Is he back in the hospital?" Jeremy looked a bit more nervous than usual at the conversation topic. Considering the situation and his history, it wasn't too surprising.

"No, Mike is alright. We bandaged his arm," Marionette explained. Foxy sat down on the edge of the stage and rubbed his face with his hand. "But… The entire event was very distressing, which is why we didn't come into work. Mike has been firm that he won't be returning…" He paused, wondering if he needed to just hold back the unnecessary emotions and return home. "But all is not well."

His attention turned back to Foxy, who was still listening in. Jeremy went temporarily ignored as Marionette tried to suppress the returning disturbance.

"I can't stop thinking about it," the Puppet lamented as he paced in his hovering. "I can't stop thinking about her, obsessing over it, even when I know why. We both know why she would do it, but it just… I can't get over it. I can't stop thinking of it." Marionette rubbed at his mask. "I'm going mad."

"Yer doin' fine," Foxy shot him down. "If anyone's gonna lose it, it's me. One of our men was over lickin' Hickory's boots."

"Mike was doing it because he saw the mice in ARI's files. That's it." They didn't need to know the other reason; that was between Mike and himself. "He wanted to know if they were like Baby and the others, but they are more like us." He gave a weary exhale with the off-tune chime following, "And here I am, unable to do anything."

"Then let's do somethin'," Foxy suddenly stated. He stood from the stage and looked to his brother. "Let's go get in the van and drive over there. We'll see this competition face to face," Foxy insisted. It was almost like the competition had spread to the bite itself. As though Foxy was upset that an animatronic bit Mike when he couldn't. Marionette didn't know how to react to the behavior, so he temporarily ignored it.

"That's a terrible idea," Marionette remarked and looked off out of the way. "Besides, I promised Mike that I wouldn't go. It's a mutual pact."

"Mike made a few promises he didn't keep to ya, didn't he?" Foxy challenged right back. "An' you know the two of us could take out a couple o' knock off bilge rats! We get in the van, we drive over there, an' we do what comes naturally." As much as Marionette wanted to agree and wanted to go along with this crazy idea, he knew better than it.

The more compassionate side of him tried to remind him that the animatronic was probably just confused and sympathetic; maybe a lost soul like them. It almost helped, but it was the promise to Mike that truly held him back.

"If I go, Mike will follow, and I don't want him going back," Marionette firmly laid out. "It's just not a good idea. We have to think about the pizzeria."

"…Yeah, ya gotta point," Foxy admitted. He almost seemed defeated and gave a tired huff. "What're you gonna do then? Just keep losin' yer mind thinkin' about it?"

"I thought I was doing fine," Marionette flatly pointed out with a less than impressed look.

"Eh," Foxy gave a shrug. "Then why'd you come if not fer suggestions?" He watched as Marionette hesitated and looked taken aback by the question.

"Well…" Marionette rubbed his arms to comfort himself. "To be honest, mostly to vent. I don't usually feel so… Powerless." Actual sympathy passed Foxy's gaze and he put his hand on Marionette's shoulder, pulling him in closer, and then put his arm around his back. The motion was just enough to calm the Puppet's body once more. Even if it was temporary, he felt largely more at peace, and gave a small chime of contentment.

"Thank you, Foxy. This was what I needed," Marionette assured as he turned to briefly hug him. "I should return home before Mike realizes that I left."

"Ah, let 'em worry!" Foxy boasted. "He put you through plenty worry before. Let 'em shiver an' shake!" The offer was just tempting enough to keep the Puppet a little longer. However, after a few minutes, he gave Foxy a final hug.

"Thank you, Foxy. I feel… Content," Marionette assured. "We will both be ready for Monday. I promise." Then, shortly after, he teleported away, leaving Foxy standing there and Jeremy went to return to work.

"I hope Mike's okay… I guess I'll call him after I get home," Jeremy quietly murmured as he turned to the garbage bag. "I'm going to throw this in the back and I'll be taking off."

"No, you won't."

Jeremy raised a brow and looked back towards Foxy who was looking at him. There was something in his look that suddenly gave Jeremy a bad feeling that he was right. "…Please tell me you want me to stay here."

"I gotta better idea, Lad! Why don't we shove off ourselves? Marion made his own promise, but we answer to no one." Foxy strode over and leaned over him, cocking his head with interest. Jeremy didn't even respond at first. Somehow, Foxy took this as consideration instead of absolute confusion. "You've driven the van before. I'll just hop in the back and we'll go see what 'ol Hickory's is hiding."

"Foxy, no," Jeremy bluntly answered. "I… I don't even know how to explain how bad of an idea that is. You and me in a van, going to see a bunch of- of biters?"

"How's it terrible? I'll keep ya safe," Foxy assured the human. "It'll be an adventure! Just Captain Foxy and his first mate, sneaking into arcades and spyin' on the landlubbers lookin' to encroach on our spot." Only one part of that sounded reasonably nice and it was suffocated by how bafflingly ridiculous the rest of it sounded. "Or you can just look in the window while Captain Foxy breaks an' enters."

"…Foxy, there's cameras. Someone's going to see you!" the human protested further. "And Mari just said that Mike-."

"They attack humans. They don't attack other animatronics. Ya'd just halfta wait in the van an' drive me back." Foxy seemed to get a little more excited as he put an arm around Jeremy's shoulders and shook him lightly. "So, whaddya say? Time to shove off fer adventure? Just Foxy and his first mate out on the road?"

This is what Jeremy liked to call a 'Mike decision'. A decision that Mike would make, like his constant returning to the Pizzeria even after he survived the full weeks. It was an obviously bad decision and agreeing to it would usually lead to vast discomfort and immediate regret. However, if what Foxy said was completely true, then this meant that he wouldn't have to go inside.

"I-I don't know. Foxy, I don't really want to get put into that position, you know? If anyone's going to get bit… It's going to be me," Jeremy admitted. He couldn't imagine having to go through all the pain and healing again. "It's risky, we can't."

"We shouldn't, Lad, but we can," Foxy reassured. "Ain't nobody gonna be there if Mike ain't. Besides, when do we get a couple 'o hours to fool 'round?" He tugged a light tighter, a bit more reassuringly and a bit more desperately. "It'll be fun! And I promise, if things start to get salty then we'll turn 'round and come home. Whaddya say, Lad?"

"…When do we leave?"

Foxy responded with a chortle of delight and a thumping slap on the back. "That's the spirit!" His laughter cut off and he got a look that could only be described as sinister, and as cocky as usual. "Go do whatever ya have to, Lad. We're gonna be leavin' late."

A few hours later, Jeremy was driving an old van down the highway with the fox animatronic in the back.

Jeremy wasn't even certain how Foxy managed to convince him so well. Repeatedly he asked why he was willing to do this, but the answer was always just Foxy. Foxy was convincing; Foxy had a way of making you feel like you truly were going on an adventure. Something about how special Foxy made it sound had started to make him go against his better judgement.

But even with Foxy's assurances, Jeremy was starting to lose his nerve. As he arrived at a turn-off of the main highway, he looked down at the directions that he had retrieved from Fritz's office to make sure he was on the right track. He only hoped that the directions being in the office didn't mean that he was visiting the arcade too; one of them needed to have better judgement.

"We're almost there," Jeremy pointed out with a wavering voice. "It's not too late to turn back."

"Aye," Foxy agreed, but then didn't continue with the subject. He simply stretched out his legs and leaned against the back of the passenger seat.

"Foxy, maybe we should turn back. Come on, we won't even have to tell anyone we came out here!" Jeremy tried to convince the captain to no avail. "What if someone does see us? I could get arrested, you could get carted off, the pizzeria will be closed down-." He was silenced by Foxy reaching over and nudging his shoulder.

"Yer gettin' worked up about nothin'," Foxy insisted. "Just relax an' go along with the ride." Against his better judgement, Jeremy decided to do so, if only because he suspected that Foxy wouldn't be willing to go back without seeing the Funcade.

It wasn't much longer before they reached the arcade. There was a car out from, so Jeremy parked off to the right of the building, somewhat hidden from immediate view. Foxy hummed and leaned forward between the seats. "So, there's a problem," Foxy pointed out. Jeremy nodded, but kept his gaze at the corner of the arcade, watching for if someone was going to come look. "There's someone there and he's probably gonna lock the door on his way out."

"Why do I… Have a bad feeling that there's something you want me to do about it?" Jeremy guessed.

"Lad, I know I said that you didn't have to go in, an' ya still don't… But if ya  _did_ think ya could go in, all you'd have to do is this," Foxy leaned in a bit more, his voice falling lower, as though it was some sort of secret. "All you would need to do is go in an' camp out until he leaves. It's got to be soon; he ain't gonna stay 'til Midnight."

"…I don't think that the animatronics are going to stay passive just because someone else is there. Just because some do, doesn't mean they all do," Jeremy quietly pointed out. "I-I mean, the Mangle-."

"The Mangle wasn't thinkin' straight. After what happened, somethin' was always a little off. No normal animatronic is gonna risk movin' around before Midnight- Unless they run the place." There was almost a smirk in his voice as he added this part in.

With a huff, Jeremy took off his uniform jacket. "This is a bad idea," he pointed out. "I mean, seriously, Foxy, I'm more afraid of going to jail than I am getting bitten again!" That was a lie, but it felt better to say than the truth. With a weary exhale, he stepped out and headed to the front door. He disappeared around the corner and out of the animatronic's line of sight.

Foxy climbed out of the back of the van and followed along at a careful distance. Once at the corner, he peered around and studied the front of the building. There didn't seem to be any outside cameras, thankfully, but he couldn't be too sure about the inside. Hopefully they were like Freddy's cameras, which just happened to 'erase' the footage spontaneously. He couldn't see where Jeremy had gone once inside and couldn't see well enough from this angle. He just hoped that his first mate could avoid detection.

A few minutes passed and Foxy started to grow antsy. He purposely wanted them to come close to Midnight, so that he could hopefully face the other animatronics and see if they truly were haunted, but now was regretting it. Jeremy was still inside and it was going on ten until Midnight; Foxy could feel it in his metal. Right when he was about to truly worry that something was wrong, someone approached the front doors, and Foxy dipped around the corner again as to not be spotted.

The man who came storming out of the arcade was borderline elderly and wearing what looked like a technician's uniform. It was colored differently for the arcade, but Foxy recognized that the man was still a technician. He stopped by his car and stood there for a few minutes, looking out into the parking lot as though he was waiting for someone. All the while, Foxy became more antsy. The longer this man stayed and the less time they had to get Jeremy out and himself inside. Foxy would prefer walking in before all the animatronics were at peak alertness.

Not that there was much of a choice at this point. Time was running out and Foxy eyed the old man with growing irritation, knowing that he couldn't do anything to rush him off. Finally, the man stormed to his car and drove off into the night. Foxy didn't even wait until he was out of the parking lot before he dashed for the doors. He tapped his hook against the glass and searched around for Jeremy. He caught sight of something moving by a nearby prize counter and tapped a little more firmly.

Thankfully, it was Jeremy. The young man had hidden himself behind the counter to avoid the man, who was mostly likely doing his final rounds. As he approached the front door, the lights in the arcade started to shut off. Not all of them, but a majority either turned off or died down, and Foxy felt an internal shiver. It was Midnight, he knew it. He tapped the glass a bit harder and beckoned Jeremy.

"That's it, Lad! The man's gone, so we'll get switched and all will be well," Foxy assured. This was it; they would finally be back on track.

Jeremy could vaguely hear him and approached the door, eagerly reaching out to turn the bolt lock and then pressing to open the front doors.

They didn't even budge.

* * *

" _How can I learn anything from you? You're never even here!"_

" _Zat is no way to talk to your father!"_

" _But it's true! You treat that kid who works the register more like your son than you treat me!"_

" _Zat's my manager; I have to suck up."_

" _You suck alright, Dad!"_

It was a poor excuse for a TV program, but Mike found himself staring at it like he was watching a car wreck. All because he didn't want to move. The soap opera couldn't have been anymore corny and because of this, it was almost amusing. Mike would've still changed it in a heartbeat if Marionette wasn't curled up into his side. He wasn't even sure if the Puppet was still awake or not, but he didn't want to risk it. It just felt nice to be home, even as it crept past Midnight. He wondered if he would still get his phone call of the evening, but wasn't too concerned.

The slender animatronic shifted beside him and his porcelain mask pressed further into Mike's collar. No, he definitely wasn't concerned. This soap opera on the other hand…

Right as Mike considered leaning to reach for the remote, a familiar tune lulled from the armrest of the couch. It was his cellphone and he received the expected call right on schedule. With a small sigh, he reached out and just barely nudged the phone into his grasp. He answered the call with a hesitance on his voice, "Hello?" He expected Jennifer, but that wasn't what he got.

"Mike, I'm- uh- I'm over here at Hickory's and  _thedoorsarelocked_ and I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"

Jeremy's frantic voice sputtered out his horrendous story and it took Mike a moment to process it. "What…?" Then it hit him and he sat upwards further, rousing the Puppet. "What?! What the hell are you doing over there?!"

"Foxy just- it's stupid, it was a really stupid idea!" Jeremy explained. He sounded almost fanatic, "I just- I was going to open the door after Midnight, but the doors won't open!"

"The doors lock until five in the morning, Jeremy!" Mike blurted out. "What could've possibly made you think- Where's Foxy?!"

"He's outside the front doors! I'm literally staring right at him!" Jeremy choked out. There was a dull thumping noise in the background. "And he can't get in either! Is there another way out?!"

"The backdoor locks too, you just-!" Mike cut off. Suddenly it dawned on him that Jeremy was in the worst position possible. He was stuck inside the Funcade with the animatronics on the worst possible night, out in the middle of the desert, and nobody was coming for him. Not yet, at least. "What do you have on you?"

"I-I've got my phone, I've got this- I've got mace, and that's it. I don't have anything else!" It was then that Jeremy gave a small gasp and grew much quieter. "Something- Something moved."

" _Probably Hickory coming off the stage,"_ Mike mentally accessed. "Jeremy, you need to find a place to hide. Now. Find a place that's closed in and safe- and not that supply closet behind the security office, that thing's useless- and I want you to sit there and be quiet. I'll be there as fast as I can." They ended the call quickly, with Jeremy briefly choking out a small 'okay' beforehand.

Mike turned to face Marionette who was clearly listening in. He had no doubt that the animatronic knew exactly what was happening and could only clarify with one statement.

"I'll be damned, I'm going back."


	72. Chapter 72

"I'm going with you."

Mike was midway through yanking on his shoes when the Puppet spoke up. He looked up at the animatronic and was met with a look of strict determination. He was going to stand his ground no matter what response. "There's no use trying to dissuade me. I won't let you go alone." Apparently, he didn't realize that Mike no intention in arguing.

"Great," Mike responded as he circled the living room, grabbing his things. "It saves me having to ask you." There was no way that he was intending on going without Marionette, not with Jeremy's life at risk. "Grab your music box and your walk man, then we're out of here," Mike pointed out as he shoved his cell phone into his pocket. "My tazer's still in the car. Believe me, we'll need it."

"I agree, but what do we need the rest for?" Marionette asked in confusion. "I would prefer not to sleep in the car when I need to be sharp."

"Jennifer- Phone Girl, sort of- said that the animatronics act weird with music. The walk man's for your sake; the second I get in the car, I'm blasting rock until we get there." Apparently, this convinced Marionette as he left to do so. He didn't even ask about the details. Though Mike assumed it was a coincidence; a familiar program built into other animatronics. The last thing he needed was Marionette worrying about there being some sort of connection when there wasn't. Mike got into the car and Marionette appeared in the back a few moments later.

"So, let me give you a rundown of what we're going to see before we get there. Or before the uncomfortably long car ride," Mike suggested as he started to pull out of the driveway. Marionette leaned in, folding his arms on the console between the seats, less afraid of being spotted this late at night. "Hickory and Dickory are blind, but if they hear or feel you then Doc will barrel off the stage and come looking. He might be blind, but I can't really tell. There's Bo Peep; she used to follow this little sheep around, but now she just pops up wherever and shrieks all the time."

"She sounds fun," Marionette remarked. It certainly sounded like Freddy and the others' behavior patterns. They all had them and they were all either connected to personality, to their animatronic bodies and programming, or were just whatever seemed to work at the moment. Naturally, he couldn't predict the animatronics without seeing them.

"And you're never going to believe this; there's actually a weasel. I am not kidding," Mike sent Marionette an amused smile. He needed something to ease the tenseness. "I hope you're ready for a chase."

"Mike, I'll have you know that as long as you're being hunted," Marionette began, lowering his voice, "I will  _always_ be ready for a chase." He then looked out the window, "I'm a bit high strung tonight."

"That's underplaying it. Probably a pun too, but I'll give it to you," Mike agreed. He glanced over and watched as the Puppet intertwined his strings between his fingers. As though trying to make a design when he was obviously just venting silent frustrations. "You are high strung, aren't you?"

"It's not every night that I get a chance to," Marionette pulled his strings taunt, " _pop a sheep_."

"Don't you mean weasel?" Mike offered as he glanced back at the road. He already knew the answer.

"No, I don't," the Puppet assured. For a few seconds, the car was silent except for the soft sound of tugging strings. It wasn't until they pulled onto the largely quiet highway that Mike spoke again.

"We've got a long drive ahead of us, so you're going to want to save that energy until we get there," Mike suggested and gestured to the passenger seat. "Nobody's going to see you if you want to risk it." Without a word, Marionette slipped into the passenger seat, bringing the Walkman with him and fiddling with it. His motions showed his concern; his hands twitched and the occasional broken chime slipped out whenever he couldn't suppress it. They weren't talking about Jeremy, but they were both terrified for him.

Seemingly giving in to his lack of anything to do, Marionette finally slid on the headphones and faded into whatever music he could. Mike looked over a few times and once reached over to rest his hand on his leg, where it lingered up until the sound of music interrupted their drive. Not just any music either, but the sound of the 'Toreador March' ringing from his phone.

Mike sucked in a weary exhale as he answered, half-expecting to hear a panicked Jeremy on the line. "Hello?"

"Oh my goodness, Matt, I'm so sorry!" To Mike surprise, it was none other than Jennifer feverishly apologizing on the line. "I only just got out- I'm sorry I'm late, but I found something. You're going to want to know this." She was almost frantic as she held back her explanation. It all piqued the security guard's interest and he glanced over at the Puppet. He seemed to not be paying attention, with his eyes closed and his body relaxed into the hum of the music.

"No problem. What did you find?" Mike asked back, quick to the point.

"Something, I think, but first I need to know now what you know about Freddy's. Your history, your knowledge, I need to know what you know and then I'll tell you what I know." This seemed fair enough, but he was reluctant.

"You can't tell anyone else," Mike forewarned.

"That's fine. I'm going to lose my job if they find out that I've been looking in the office's files," Jennifer pointed out. "Trust me, I don't want them knowing I know what's going on."

"Alright, well, first off my name's not Matt," Mike pointed out. "…But I'm going to keep going by Matt so that we don't get stuck in a bad situation. As far as you know, I am Matt whatever my last name was." Jennifer gave a confused agreement. "I worked at Freddy's as a night guard, so I can confirm that all the rumors about the animatronics wandering at night are true. They do the same thing that these do." He paused for emphasis. "And our good friend Mr. Afton is involved with Freddy's. You know him as the man behind Afton Robotics."

"I know," Jennifer agreed. She exhaled shakily, "He supplied the Funcade with the new animatronics to get it off the ground… But they weren't new animatronics." Mike furrowed his brows, but let her continue. "They've been recycled. Chance thinks that they came out of one of Freddy's, and he can never know that I know he thinks that. That's why the animatronics act strange; they took Freddy's leftovers, dolled them up, and shipped them out as new animatronics. They've always been broken and nobody ever fixed them."

"Damn… Like that 'Concept Unification' thing? What do you know about that?" Mike continued to delve. "That's what you're describing, right?"

"Yeah. I've actually seen it done before," Jennifer assured. "Usually it happens when they're trying to change characters or masks. Bobby's outside has needed to be replaced over and over again, so maybe that counts. They just throw a new outside onto a reused inside, so nothing gets fixed. The glitches are still there."

If only she knew the truth about these 'glitches'. Yet Mike wouldn't let that slip. Instead, he considered what he was doing in bringing Marionette into the situation. If what Jennifer said was true, then it was possible that he knew the animatronics at the Funcade. Of course, this may be a good thing, if Marionette could then talk them down. Or it could be something extremely uncomfortable, leading to only more disturbance for the two. Considering that Marionette had lived in the pizzeria so long, he would probably know these animatronics. Perhaps he would even know about concept unification.

Then, suddenly, Mike had a growing suspicion. He couldn't prove it, he wouldn't voice it, but he had a growing concern that these puzzle pieces clicked together in a much more sinister way. He glanced over towards his companion hesitantly.

"Matt?"

"Yeah, I'm still here." Mike snapped out of his thoughts and back to attention. "Anything else?"

"…Watch out tonight. This is going to be a hard night and I don't want to wake up tomorrow and find out that you didn't make it," Jennifer murmured quietly. It was a silent confirmation of one thing; night guards had died at the arcade in the past. There was no denying that. Mike's hand tensed on the wheel.

"It's going to take more than a couple of ticked off nursery rhymes to kill a Schmidt. Believe me, I've got it covered." Almost right afterwards, his blue eyes widened and he clenched his teeth. "Shit, forget I said that."

"I was only half-listening anyway. I've got to go, but if you make it to morning… I'll call you, but I think this is it. I think I'm putting in my two weeks in the morning... So, you've got two lives on your hands now," Jennifer playfully suggested. However, Mike could only inwardly cringe.

" _You have no idea…"_ The call ended shortly after that and Mike was driving once again. His focus returned to Jeremy, until Marionette interrupted the thoughts.

"Who was that?" the Puppet inquired. There wasn't any suspicion in his voice, but there was some concern, as though he expected Jeremy had called back like Mike had.

"Phone Girl giving me the fifth night call," Mike answer honestly. Then he looked confused, "You didn't listen in?"

"…No," Marionette answered back. "…I didn't feel the need to." Or more realistically, he was afraid to. He didn't want to hear the last words from Jeremy when he was still too far to save him. "What did she say?"

And it was here that Mike came to a crossroads. It would've been very easy to voice his suspicious, but they seemed so outlandish that he was hesitant to do so. Firstly, there was no evidence beyond a few coincidences that could be wrote off. Secondly, he didn't want to put Marionette through a forty-minute car ride with such a heavy thought lingering. Especially if walking into the arcade would disprove it.

"Just about some of the things that she found out about the arcade. It's connected to Afton's, might be connected to Freddy's, and the animatronics may or may not be reused from an old location. Basically, everything that we can say about Foxy's," Mike recited out as he reached out to flip through the radio stations.

"…That would be plausible," Marionette quietly agreed as he removed the headphones. "It would also explain the aggression. I… I don't need to tell you that animatronics get a bit less patient the longer that they go without proper care and comfort. That anger just becomes more intense, until it's a part of you."

"You say it like you know," Mike pointed out. "There's not an angry bone in your body. Metal or not." He struggled to lighten the mood even the smallest bit. Alas, he was overcompensating for something that he couldn't control, and the worrying knowledge looming over his head. His hunch was very possible and if that was the case then maybe he couldn't take Marionette inside, but again, he couldn't prove it.

"Oh, I get angry, just not at you," Marionette assured. He turned to face the human more, propping his arm on the console between the seats. "I could think of at least one person whom I'd have a hard time not springing upon on sight…" Unless, of course, that's not what happened when they entered the arcade. Mike abandoned the radio and reached to take Marionette's hand, squeezing it.

"Just try to stay close… Hey, uh, Mari?" Did he even dare ask this? "…You… Have you ever seen animatronics getting taken apart? I don't count Ennard, I mean… Do you know what they do when they get rid of an animatronic? Is it possible these were recycled?" He tested the words carefully, trying not to be suspicious.

"I always assumed that they disposed of them. Or, to be technically, recycled them for parts. Something that the Scooping Room could have actually been used for if it was legitimate," Marionette explained. He then paused and squeezed Mike's hand back. "…But… It could be possible. I couldn't imagine how they would do it, but it could be possible." The car fell into an uncomfortable silence and left Mike still uncertain. He didn't ask any more questions.

Eventually Marionette broke the silence. "I love you," the animatronic quietly assured.

Mike was no longer uncertain in what he was going to do, and so his suspicions went unvoiced.

* * *

Jeremy had tried to sit behind the prize counter as long as possible, but it was becoming obvious that he was in a dangerous area. While Foxy had went to check the back door, Jeremy was stranded in the prize corner, listening as other animatronics circled and cycled around the arcade. One made frequent stops inside the room with him. From the small glimpses he had seen of it, it looked to be styled like a human woman or a shepherd. It would return every few minutes and stand in the center of the room before leaving.

It was only a matter of time before it saw or heard him; Jeremy knew this. He also knew that if Foxy started fighting with the door and making noise that they would all be drawn back here. There was certainly more than one too, if the multiple plush toy characters and numerous footsteps were any hint. Eventually, he knew that he had to hide better.

Jeremy waited until Bo Peep left the prize corner before creeping to the door and peering out. Down the main hall he could see that three mice animatronics were looming in front of the stage, staring off at something to the left, but seemingly distracted. He swallowed down what little saliva he had in his drying mouth and took a warning step out. Where would he go? There had to be bathrooms around here and so that seemed like the most logical option. At least, until Mike came and figured out a way to get the doors unlocked.

He shuffled off towards the right hall and crept down between the wall and the aisles of arcade games. Some of them were alit, glowing with colors and menu screens, but Jeremy showed little interest as he made it to the end of the hall. He peered around the corner and felt his heart nearly stop. Of course, it didn't; it was pounding too heavily to even think that it had stopped.

It looked like there was some sort of small office on the other side of the arcade. Though it was hard to tell from all the animatronics lingering outside the front of it and staring in expectantly. As though they believed someone was there and they just couldn't see them. He held his breath as he tentatively stepped out a small bit. He then shirked back as Bo Peep stepped out of the hall beside the office and started down towards the front again.

" _There's so many of them…"_ Jeremy jumped at the sound of banging from the back of the arcade. Two of the mice animatronics blocking the office seemed to suddenly become interested in the noise and headed down the halls beside the office, splitting up to corner the source of the noise. The frantic banging sounded like it was Foxy at whatever other door there was.

" _I'm a sitting duck! They could just- they could see me at any moment and I just- What was that?"_ Jeremy turned his head towards the front and could hear something banging around.  _"Is that the woman in the prize corner?!"_ The 'woman', or Bo Peep, was banging through something up towards the front door. Maybe she somehow found out that he had been in there and was now tearing the place apart. Paranoia set in and Jeremy looked around frantically for a hiding place.

It was then that the most obvious answer came to mind. It was both silly and genius, and Jeremy found his idea to hide in the bathroom completely dropped in favor of the plastic tubing passing above his head. His eyes fixed on the play tunnels as a sanctuary and then latched onto the steps and opening into the tunnels. Though getting to it meant crossing the room in plain sight. He couldn't see around the machines into the entryway nearby, meaning that it was a blind spot.

But standing in the hall was going to get him killed. These animatronics were alert and ready; once they knew he was here, they would be ready to shred him to pieces. He could already imagine their sharp teeth and was driven out of the hall. Jeremy kept his eyes on Doc's back as he quietly pattered across the floor to the steps. He was almost at the tunnels, just about to step onto the stairs, when Doc suddenly cocked his head. The human choked and scrambled up the steps.

Just as Jeremy was forcing himself into the tunnels, he heard a warning bellow from the animatronic. He scrambled inside, ignoring how much noise he was making and climbing deeper into the tubes. Once he was around a sort of corner he went still and listened. The animatronic mouse thundered to the stairs and stopped at the entrance. He could hear it moving around in the opening to the tunnels; probably looking around and trying to see if he was there. He could only pray that Doc couldn't get inside. He covered his mouth, trying to slow his breathing, and waited.

Banging echoed across the arcade again. Suddenly, Doc lost interest in the tunnels as his footsteps could be heard leaving. Jeremy pressed his face against a dotted vent on the side of the tunnel and watched as Doc leisurely stomped by. For a moment, he almost felt safe. That ended when another animatronic sprinted under the tunnels and off towards the office. This animatronic wasn't just fast, but it was a bit slenderer, and it looked almost weasel-like. There was no doubt that the weasel would be able to climb into the tunnels with him.

Fearful, Jeremy started to climb up into the tunnels. It was a cramped fit and the air felt hot and stagnant in the tunnel. His shoes squeaked obnoxiously on the plastic floor and it was by luck alone that neither of the animatronics detected this light noise. Jeremy continued to scoot along until the tunnels opened into a sort of grid shaped tunnel room. In short, there were plastic 'pillars' spread around inside, but they didn't seem to have much use, other than blocking vision other routes into the tunnels. Jeremy just pushed on ahead.

He climbed higher into the jungle gym. It was stiff and uncomfortable, but something made him feel safe. He could remember hiding in a plastic slide once when it was raining, trying desperately to stay longer and wait out the downpour; that memory was a comfort as he started to make it to the top. Jeremy climbed small plastic 'steps' on a slanted tunnel, approaching the highest room, and nearly felt relief. Maybe this would keep him safe until Mike arrived, like child Jeremy waiting out the rain.

Jeremy finally saw into the small room and froze on the spot. He wasn't alone.

The room was a wider tunnel with plastic windows lining the sides, so that someone could look out at the arcade. The floor was spongy and covered in stiff plastic. It would've been the perfect place to hide from the animatronics down below, and apparently Jeremy wasn't the only one who thought this.

Its body was bent and broken. Limbs weren't facing the right way and sections of endoskeleton could be seen under loose fabric. Its face was pointing towards the ceiling, or perhaps its plastic mask was, and it laid there silently as though deactivated. Jeremy didn't know what was worse; the fact that one of the animatronics did willingly climb in here or the fact that it reminded him so much of the Mangle.

" _Maybe it's asleep…"_ Jeremy wanted to believe this. Even though sleep mode was a myth, he had seen the Minireenas all engage in a form of sleep. Just thinking of the Minireenas made him feel a wave of guilt; he wondered if they were worried about why he hadn't come home. Max probably wouldn't care, but little Daisy and Rose would certainly be worried. Even Forget-Me-Not would find it odd that he hadn't come home.

With an anxious swallow, Jeremy decided that the animatronic was most likely asleep and that he could just go back down to the lower tunnels and hide by the door. There he would be close to his escape but still safe from the threats outside. He began to slowly climb back into the tunnel again, wincing at the squeak of plastic, and backed down until he could no longer see it. He had gotten to the space at the bottom of the ladder and turned himself so that he could traverse forward again, then continued.

Then he reached the second portion of 'steps', located just about underneath the room where the mangled body was sitting. Backing down was safer, he knew this, but he didn't want to waste time in getting away from the animatronic, so he went down forward, awkwardly shuffling down. Another squeak, a soft thump, and then Jeremy was stopped at the bottom by what sounded remarkably like a groan; wheezy, mechanical, and located just above him. He went still and listened, hoping it would go still again.

Instead, the animatronic suddenly started to bang through the tunnels, quickly. He could hear it rush down the tunnels and knew it was coming for him. There was nowhere to hide in the tubes. As Jeremy crawled down through the colorful tubes, frantically pressing on and ignoring the banging he was making, he could hear it picking up speed behind him. The thumps, the scrapes, the guttural groans, the noise that sounded like a largely distorted 'baa'; it was coming after him and it was almost on his heels.

Jeremy dropped back into the larger lower room and scrambled to the entrance. He started to dip around the corner and came face to face with a gruesome sight. There, waiting at the entrance, was the weasel. It was crouched down and staring in with pinprick eyes, along with a face frozen in a twisted grin. The exit was blocked and as Jeremy watched, it started to climb inside after him.

The human turned and fumbled back into the room, where he could see the mangled sheep entering in on the other side. Its endo face followed him and it released another guttural groan as it quickened its crawling. All its limbs moved inappropriately, as though it had no joints at all, and he knew he couldn't outmaneuver it for long. Thinking on his feet, he tried to calculate another idea and eventually remembered the slide that he had seen earlier. This meant getting back into the higher tunnels and getting around the sheep.

As the sheep wormed its way through the pillars, Jeremy tried to make a mad crawl in a sort of look around it. It almost worked until the sheep grabbed his ankle, right as Jeremy made it back to the tunnel that would take him up. He looked back just in time to see the weasel climbing into the room, though much slower, and the sheep trying to lower its sharp teeth onto his ankle. He wasn't willing to get bit; Jeremy kicked out with his other foot hard enough that he could hear a tear and proceeded to watch as its mask hung down off the side of its head.

This did manage to stagger the sheep, whom groaned and twisted its head back into position. Jeremy just yanked his foot free when the weasel reached out for him and was barely able to climb higher into the tunnels. Now it was back to a scramble, frantically crawling towards the slide. His palms burned and he expected that he had bruised his knees at this rate, but he didn't slow even for a second. He threw himself down the slide and sluggishly descended on his belly. He came to a stop at the bottom and half dangled over the ball pit.

Alas, there was a ring of animatronics now standing around the ball pit, blocking off the continuation of escape. The three mice and Bo Peep stood on the edge of the ball pit and watched him flounder, but seemed reluctant to move in any closer. Jeremy didn't make any further movement. He was stuck in a moment of surprise that only lasted until a strong hand grabbed his ankle and tugged. With a choke, Jeremy grabbed onto the edge of the slide and tugged his leg back from the vice-like grip of the animatronic in the slide behind him.

Jeremy attempted to knock the grip off, but as much as he kicked back, the sheep didn't relent. The human desperately tried to hold on, knowing what would happen if he was dragged inside of the slide.

"Wait- stop! I'm not the night guard! I didn't- I didn't kill anyone!" Jeremy cried out, begging for mercy and hoping to convince them. "This is a mistake!" Maybe they would believe him and let him go, but he realized quickly that this wasn't going to work. "Please, I didn't do anything to hurt you! I'm not the murderer!"

Slowly, a head started to raise up beside the slide and Jeremy watched in horror as a slightly familiar face stared down at him. Wooden body or not, the puppet standing beside him was the spitting image of the Balloon Boy, and his still smile only made him more disturbed. For a second his cries were cut off as he stared at the animatronic now looking down at him. "BB…?"

Then the Balloon Boy animatronic raised its arm and brought down its fist onto Jeremy's fingers. The human hissed, but struggled to keep his grip, especially as the sheep gave another tug back. A second strike and Jeremy's right hand released. He scrambled to grab onto the corner of the slide's tunnel. The Balloon Boy knock off then proceeded to bring its fist down on Jeremy's other hand. Its striking and the sheep's tugging were almost simultaneous, and Jeremy was very aware that he couldn't hold on much longer.

"Foxy!" Jeremy cried out desperately. As though the animatronic could save him. "Foxy!  _Foxy, oh God!_ "

Outside, Foxy was back at the front doors and pacing when he suddenly heard the cries from inside. He scrambled over and pressed himself to the glass of the door. He couldn't see what was going on other than seeing the forms of a few animatronics down at the end of the hall. However, he could clearly hear Jeremy, and he twitched in growing agitation.

Jeremy second hand released and he was pulled further into the slide, just barely able to cling onto the higher edges. His fingers began to burn at the strain as he felt sharp, metal teeth dig into his calf. The sheep began to yank back, like a dog tearing at a piece of meat, and his hold started to give. " _Foxy, I can't hold on!"_

All of a sudden, a loud shattering noise broke out from the front of the arcade. It was loud enough that the Balloon Boy puppet snapped its head over in alarm and the animatronics seemed to all twist and turn their heads in confusion. This was then followed by the sound of rapid, banging footsteps, and a red blur dashing in. Foxy had gotten inside; Jeremy was both elated and terrified at the same time.

The animatronic fox barged through Bo Peep and Hickory, knocking the former into a stagger and the latter into the ball pit, and leapt forward at the small glimpse of Jeremy. Only seconds before Jeremy would've let go and he suddenly had Foxy's hook tearing into his collar and forcibly dragging him out of the slide. The human couldn't help but choke out a pained groan as the teeth dragged down his calf and no doubt left scratches in their wake. Though adrenaline quickly covered up the stinging.

Jeremy only fell into the ball pit for a second before he was yanked to his feet and shoved off to the side. "Run!" Foxy commanded without a hitch. Jeremy flailed to the edge and started to climb up, watching in dread as Dickory started towards him. The mouse didn't even have a chance as Foxy climbed up and swung his hook into the side of its head. There was a loud cracking, but Jeremy had looked away before he could see the full extent of the damage.

With them blocking the way to the front, there was only one option of immediate escape. He made a mad dash under the tunnels and through the doorway he saw earlier. Jeremy bounded into what looked like a dining room and looked around for any route of escape. Soon he was sprinting into the kitchen, but it was an immediate dead end. By time he came back, Foxy had made his way into the kitchen and was currently holding the doors shut behind him. The animatronic's ears perked and he looked upwards in time to see the human.

"Lad, get out of here!" Foxy commanded. "I can't hold the door fer too long!"

"There's no way out!" Jeremy choked back, obviously in a panic. "There's no other door or window or  _anything!_ " Indeed, the dining room and kitchen were both comprised of cement brick walls, and neither of which had windows. "What do we do?!"

"Go hide!" Foxy commanded as he pointed off randomly. "Before they get in! Go!"

With this sharp command, Jeremy turned and dashed off into the dining room. Unfortunately, this too was relatively fruitless. The only possibility to hide him was behind the stage curtains and this also seemed like the worst idea possible. No doubt whoever's stage this was would come right in and look for him behind the curtain. Yet it was the only option and looking back, Jeremy could see that Foxy was struggling with the door. He nearly lost his hold on it more than once, but was barely able to hold back, even as his feet slowly slid across the floor.

The next thing Jeremy knew, he was huddling behind an old, dusty curtain. He tried to feel over his calf and was slightly relieved when he realized that the scratches were rather minor. But that didn't change what was coming. To Jeremy's horror, he couldn't help but acknowledge that as soon as they found him, as soon as they swarmed Foxy, it was going to be over. He could remember the yellow eyes of the Mangle as it bit into his shoulder and could only imagine the yellow eyes of the sheep as it did the same. Perhaps this time it wouldn't miss his neck.

There was a loud bang followed by rapid footsteps, and suddenly another form dove behind the curtains with him. Jeremy was too frozen to scream as Foxy huddled down in a kneel beside him.

"Be quiet," Foxy whispered in a command. "They're coming in." The fox's ears twitched as he listened in to the footsteps out in the dining hall. It sounded like they were heading into the kitchen, but it was hard to hear over Jeremy's quickening breath. Foxy only started to notice how loud Jeremy was being when he was fully hyperventilating.

"Lad, yer gonna have to quiet down. They're gonna hear you," Foxy murmured out in warning. Jeremy looked up at him with widened, glassy eyes, still unable to slow his breathing any. It was obvious that he wasn't alright and at this rate he was only going to continue downhill. The fox reached out and grabbed his arms to shake him out of his trance. "Come on, Jere. They're just bots. It's just one night!" He hoped that the other's security guard training would kick back in.

Unfortunately, this couldn't be further from the case.

Jeremy dropped his head forward and gave a light choke. It was almost a sob, but Jeremy snapped to attention enough that he desperately covered his mouth, hoping to suppress the noises. His entire body was trembling and shaking as his mind continue to go back to the teeth. These teeth were sharper, there were more teeth and more mouths this time around, and it couldn't even be twelve-thirty. They would never make it at this rate and their hiding place wasn't good enough to last for long.

"I'm going to die," Jeremy whispered out in terror. "They're going to kill me."

"Don't say that," Foxy protested back. "We just gotta get around them and back to the front. I got the door open." 'Open' wasn't exactly the word for it, but he didn't get glass lodged in his fabric for nothing.

"Foxy," Jeremy's voice wavered. The hyperventilation returned, along with a choke of a hiccup and frantic trembling. "Foxy, help me.  _Please_." He was falling apart and Foxy could just watch him with little idea of how he was supposed to help. He knew how he usually helped Marionette whenever he was distraught, but he wasn't sure if the much more skittish Jeremy would react as well.

It was then that he noticed the footsteps returning from the kitchen. From the weight and the count, three of them, he suspected that it was the three blind mice. Jeremy had to be quieted down or they were going to hear him. Then they would come and get him, and Foxy couldn't fight them all off on his own. He would have to watch as they took ahold of his first mate and dragged him away.

Without any forewarning, Foxy grabbed Jeremy and pulled him to his chest. His eyes darted around frantically, his ears continued to perk to listen in on the incoming animatronics, and the fox couldn't help but twitch under the stress of it all. He could feel Jeremy cling to him and was almost relieved that the motion seemed to quiet down Jeremy's frantic breathing. They still had a little time left.

He didn't feel safe enough to speak, so instead Foxy proceeded to tuck Jeremy's head under his and held him as tightly as he could. Nobody was getting his first mate; not while the captain was still awake and alert. Foxy wasn't going to sit by and watch a rogue animatronic kill his innocent companion. They were clearly unwilling to be reasoned with if they still pressed on regardless of Foxy's presence, so he would have to hold on and continue this crusade to keep the young man safe.

"Jeremy," Foxy murmured quietly. He let himself fall out of character for the moment, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought you here. This is my fault." Jeremy shuddered against him. "I won't let them hurt you. I won't let them take you from me. You're  _mine_." Jeremy didn't give much of a reaction in his state, but it was as though Foxy had unlocked a completely different section of his programming. A section that suddenly labelled Jeremy as his own, who nobody else could touch, and it gave him an unrivaled feeling of power.

Which was a shame, as he felt equally helpless.

* * *

Mike parked in his usual spot and made a jog for the front with Marionette on his heels. In one hand he held the music box and his other hand lingered above his tazer, as though he would suddenly get jumped and would need it. He made it to the front door and was immediately alarmed to find the glass of the front door broken through. Some large shards still jutted out from the frame, but it was as though something smashed through the door hard enough to obliterate the glass.

"Looks like we missed the party," Mike muttered as he looked around to see if there were any animatronics in the area. "Shouldn't an alarm go off or something?"

"What upstanding company wants to risk the police coming and finding a deceased security guard?" Marionette quipped back as he passed by and carefully slipped through the opening. "Be careful, there's glass everywhere." He then took his turn to look over the surroundings. It was about what he expected, though honestly a little nicer than what he had pictured in his head. Especially considering that their animatronics were labelled as 'broken' by those who had seen them. "Which way?"

"The stage is straight back," Mike pointed out, "but let me lead. I know where I'm going and if anyone jumps me then they're going to get the shock of their life." He carefully passed through the broken door and started down the corridor. Some of the arcade machines were on, but they began to static as they passed by, so he assumed that the striped animatronic was somehow interfering with how they were working. Though he swore that one or two of them had some sort of timer on it. Perhaps counting down to five-twenty.

As disturbing as it all was, there was a lingering confidence in having the animatronic following him and he felt somewhat less unnerved when appearing at the office.

The office was trashed. One of the animatronics had obviously gotten angry and decided to take it out on the desk. The wastebasket was tipped over, the monitor broken on the floor- it looked like it was stomped- and the desk itself looked askew, like something yanked it around and then hadn't straightened it again. Mike glanced over it before looking towards the three blind mice's stage.

"Looks like all of them are off somewhere," Mike muttered as he looked over the stage. "Probably wherever Jeremy is."

When he received no answer, Mike glanced behind him to find that Marionette was suddenly missing. This would've been concerning if not for Mike being still able to feel him nearby. So, instead, Mike pressed onward with less concern, hearing some sort of ruckus from the direction of the kitchen. With a sharp inhale, Mike started towards the kitchen, finally sliding his tazer off his belt. He only got a few steps closer when something suddenly slid into the ball pit from the slide. It was quick enough that he hadn't been able to see much of the body, but he made his own assumption.

"Head's up! Black Sheep's dropping in!" Mike called back to wherever the Puppet went. He took a step back and watched the movement through the colorful balls as the animatronic crawled through them. It was only once the animatronic started to lift itself out of the pit that he realized he was mistaken. That twisted smile certainly didn't match the face of Bobby. "Scratch that, it's the weasel!" There was a fleeting thought following of,  _"This is going to be fun."_ It wasn't exactly sarcastic either. He was expecting to see a weasel get popped.

Then he realized that there was something he left in his car. Mike hadn't even thought about grabbing his flashlight when his hands were full and when it was usually stuck on his belt.

"You've got to be kidding me," Mike muttered as he raised his tazer threateningly. Hopefully, Sly would be able to remember what had happened before when he was cornered, but this seemed less likely as the weasel continued to move in. The security guard took a few steps back, considering his next move, and Sly suddenly broke into a sprint, closing in on Mike.

It would've reached him too if it wasn't for the black and white blur springing onto it.

What followed was the closest thing to madness that Mike had ever witnessed. The crazed weasel tried to fight back as Marionette enwrapped his strings around and through his body. The animatronics thrashed and continued to tussle, with Sly trying to claw at the Puppet's mask as black fingers stabbed through the flimsy fabric of his chest. 'Pop Goes the Weasel' was wildly repeating from the music box within Marionette, punctuating the frantic nature of the attack. Unlike what Mike expected, it wasn't nearly as humorous as it sounded in concept.

During the tussle, Sly managed to turn his back on Mike, and he used this to his advantage. He quickly grabbed up the tipped over office chair, abandoning the music box on the desk, and rushed in to slam it across Sly's back. Being a metal chair, it didn't immediately smash into pieces, but the back was bent at an odd able. The taser was not an option while Marionette and Sly were in direct contact. He swung and struck again.

As Sly staggered, Marionette pushed off Sly and dropped to the ground, then slipped back and retracting his strings with him. They tightened around the weasel and somewhat obstructed its movement, even as the weasel made a swipe towards the Puppet's head. Marionette easily dropped beneath its swipe and tightened the strings further. They pulled roughly against the already shoddy fabric and could almost slide through. Mike knew it was time to strike and planted the taser into the center of Sly's back.

The electricity jolted through for about five seconds before Mike retracted back and watched for a response. Sly didn't take the shock well; it shuddered once and fell forward, with Marionette just barely sliding out from underneath before the animatronic could land on him. Sly crumpled onto the ground and shuddered a few times before going dormant. It wasn't broken, not from the crackling noises it was making, but it was incapacitated for the moment. The music died and Marionette retracted his strings as Mike kept an eye out.

"So that's what popping a weasel looks like," Mike remarked breathily. Something about seeing it brought that rush back, especially watching Marionette fight so effectively. There was such a thrill in watching him work. Mike looked over towards his Puppet, giving him a once over to make sure he was alright and suppressing his pride for the time being. "Let's hope they all go down that easy."

"He won't stay down for long," Marionette forewarned. The Puppet felt a strange tinge in his chest and looked back down at the weasel. Something about it was very strange, but he didn't know what. It obviously was like him as he could feel its anger, but it had walls that he hadn't expected. It could block him out and had no intention of letting his influence in, less this all be so much easier. There was no doubt that the other animatronics would resist his influence, which meant that their best chance was a show of dominance, which would hopefully drive the others off.

With an out of tune pang, Marionette turned back towards the kitchen. "There's more than one in there. I can hear them…" He could feel their aggression too. Whatever happened to these animatronics, it had driven them to this level of aggression. At night they would attack anything; reasoning with them was futile, or so he assumed. Regardless, he would have to fight. Fellow animatronics or not, both Mike and Jeremy- and Foxy, as he only just realized that he was probably the reason the door was broken- were his family.

"What's the plan? I can lure them out here and we can try to systematically take them down, or we can storm in, take out one, and then run like hell. Either one should get them away from Jeremy," Mike suggested as he approached the kitchen door, which was barely cracked open. "Or I could use the music box."

"That could backfire spectacularly. Let's hold on that until we have no other choice," Marionette shot down quickly. Indeed, he dreaded the idea of being rendered helpless. "…You don't have to come in."

"Yes, I do," Mike protested. "If we're doing this, we're doing it together. Besides, I know their tricks." He offhandedly flicked the tazer on and off, and sent Marionette a small smirk of confidence.

"Try not to get too overexcited. Regardless of what we do… They outnumber us. Even if Foxy is still able to fight." A flash of fear and anger passed by as he imagined what could've happened to his brother. He pushed it aside and reached out to lay his hand on Mike's shoulder protectively. "Stay close to me."

"Same to you, Doll," Mike said, trying to keep his voice even and trying not to show the growing dread. They were about to willingly walk into a battle to save someone who could've been dead. Neither of them said it out loud, but it was still a very real possibility. There was a very good chance that he wouldn't make it out tonight either.

With a deep breath, Mike started to open the door.


	73. Chapter 73

The doors flung open to the kitchen and a whistle echoed through the dining room. The group of animatronic who were standing around the stage turned and looked back.

"Remember me?!" Mike called over with a beaming smirk. "Yeah, I bet you do!"

Doc let out a groan and turned his head around, staring in his direction, and then broke into an odd sprint.

"Let's see if you can get me this time!" With a smug smile, Mike slipped back through the door and waited alongside it. As expected, Doc broke through, but had no idea that Mike wasn't alone.

He couldn't even see the Puppet waiting until it had sprung on him. The force was enough to knock Doc back through into the dining room, again, and send him falling heavily to the floor. Marionette rolled forward off him and crouched on the ground, quickly looking for a second target. Once his eyes affixed on Hickory, who was rapidly approaching, he sprung again. This time he made sure to completely ensnare the mouse animatronic in his strings.

Mike slipped in behind, stepping over Doc who was struggling to stand, and made a mad dash for the kitchen. "Jeremy?! Foxy?!"

Instead of seeing the two, he came face to face with Bo Peep. She turned away from the old stone and set her eyes on him with shriek, then started to bound over. Her sheep also veered around the corner of an island counter and smacked right into the security guard's calf, which was moderately uncomfortable, but not enough to stop him. Mike whipped out the tazer again, waving it attentively, and backed right back out even as Bo Peep followed him.

"Stay back! I just took out the weasel!" Mike accused and looked back to watch where he was going. Doc was now getting assistance from Dickory while Hickory was distracted elsewhere. Before Mike could even look back at Bo Peep, the familiar blur of black jolted by, and Mike looked to her again just in time to see the Puppet ensnare her. One of her arms popped off like it was barely attached; probably largely from lack of maintenance from the Funcade's staff. It was just enough damage to distract her fully from continuing after Mike.

"Foxy, did you hear that?" Jeremy asked with alarm. He started to lean over and draw the curtain back, "Mike…?"

He was met with an endoskeleton face jolting forward at his own.

Jeremy cried out and leapt back from Bobby's bite. Foxy grabbed ahold of his shoulder and smoothly yanked him back, though hard enough that Jeremy lightly thumped against the back wall. The animatronic then dove forward and tackled Bobby back onto the ground. He could hear the music playing from his brother and knew that he was fighting, even if he couldn't afford to look up and see him.

"Jeremy, run! I got her down!" Foxy called out and Jeremy stumbled out from behind the curtain. He stayed near the wall and started to run for the door out. Mike noticed him and ran for him, getting in front and shielding him with the tazer.

"Slow down, stay quiet," Mike whispered harshly as he kept his eyes on the three blind mice. Doc was finally back on his feet, which meant that all three were now free to hunt once more. The security guard was willing to risk himself and pointed Jeremy at the door, then ran across the dining room. As he expected, Hickory and Dickory heard his footsteps and started their pursuit after him.

Unfortunately, Doc had not moved with them. He now blocked the door and twitched unnervingly as he listened in for possibly prey. More specifically, Jeremy, who was still unable to scoot by out of both dread and realistic chance of getting caught. Apparently Foxy noticed this as well and in his semi-crazed state decided that he had to get Doc out of the way as fast as possible. Thus, he shoved himself off Bobby, broke into a sprint, and rushed Doc.

Doc heard Foxy's clattering footsteps long before the fox reached him and braced himself, catching the animatronic and fighting against him. Jeremy only watched for a moment before he ran, knowing that Foxy wanted him to go. Indeed, as soon as Jeremy was gone, Foxy attempted to untangle himself from Doc and proceeded out the doors. Instead of following, Doc focused on Hickory and Dickory's new target, and Mike became the focus again.

Mike watched Foxy sprint out and knew it was time to make a getaway. He didn't want anymore of a battle or he knew it would lead to injuries. He circled the room, trying to effectively lose the surprisingly quickened Hickory and Dickory. They may have not been a threat before, but they certainly were now. He was midway through a turn when his path was blocked by Bobby. She recovered from the strike by Foxy and was crawling in Mike's direction.

Between Bobby alone or Hickory and Dickory, the choice of who to face was obvious. Mike turned around and tried to maneuver himself around the two mice. This nearly worked, especially when he briefly struck the tazer into Hickory's arm. The shudder of electricity stopped the mouse in his tracks, even as Dickory tried to grab ahold of the back of Mike's jacket. He tugged out of the weak hold and made another dash across the dining room.

Doc sprinted in his direction and Mike jolted off out of its path, watching as the third mouse instead ran to its companions. A shrill, mechanical cry alerted him that Bobby was closing in, and he looked back in time to see the crawling animatronic reaching for his leg. He turned on the taser and prepared to give her a jolt.

Before Mike could even react, a flimsy table flew across the floor and crashed into Bobby. The animatronic's head was knocked back and its back folded in a way that looked utterly gruesome. Though Mike doubted that it even fazed such a broken body. Even as Marionette floated in, glowing gaze pointedly fixed on Bobby, swinging his arm upwards and telekinetically knocking the broken one further back against the stage, Bobby seemed largely unchanged. Even as a large section of her fabric exterior peeled back and hung off from her arm.

"We're out of here!" Mike called to his companion as he looked around the room. Bo Peep was already shuffling back towards them and the three mice now turned their heads towards the voice. However, Marionette seemed stuck with his gaze on Bobby, twitching with growing anger. "Stop fixating, let's go!" Mike called to him. He would've made a grab for him, but the forewarning groan from Doc signaled that he was about to rush over. He knew that the Puppet could just teleport out, but he could not.

"We're going! Come on!" the human called with finality before turning and making a break for the kitchen doors. He busted through and continued sprinting down the aisle to the front of the arcade. With an awkward sort of heave, Mike stumbled through the broken door and stopped outside, waiting… But Marionette didn't appear. He looked at his car and around the corner at the van, but it was clear that the Puppet still had to be inside. Suddenly Mike's confidence in getting out without a trip to the hospital plummeted into dread.

Marionette simply couldn't draw himself away from Bobby at first. He stared down at the broken animatronic with a mix of pity and fury. This thing, this broken and traumatized thing, had attacked the person he cared for most. It had also gone for both a good friend and his brother; it was clearly out of control. And yet he could feel the anger and confusion coming from it as it looked to him. It seemed blindly aggressive, even labelling him as a threat, but then stared at him blankly and refused to approach.

Bobby nearly did something unforgivable, but the Puppet could still show mercy. It was of no comparison to some of the things the others had done- to what Baby herself tried to do- so it would be a crime to be biased. Especially when the animatronic had clearly suffered at the hands of the establishment. If it compulsively tried to break itself, then something had to be direly wrong.

Curiosity started to cloud his judgement and he moved in closer, cocking his head slightly as he started to reach out spiritually. Normally, an animatronic that was this deprived would eagerly latch on, such as Max did or Foxy had been willing to. Others, such as Ennard, could not be reached. In Ennard's case it was because of how fragmented its soul was; he saw glimpses, but he could've never fully identified what was inside. He cautiously reached out this same suggestion to Bobby, watching her, wanting to know why she was like this.

As yellow eyes met his, Marionette was overwhelmed with a white-hot anger that he never expected. He would've flinched back if he wasn't so determined to hold his ground, but the broken animatronic overflowed with rage. He had opened a Pandora's Box full of restlessness and fury, and it was aimed towards him. While he could've assumed it was blind rage, it felt too precise. It was just enough to drive him away; he couldn't stay and help, he needed to leave immediately.

It didn't help when the Puppet drew his attention to the others in the room. They now stood still, staring at him, and while he hadn't opened himself to them, he already knew that they had to feel the same anger. He could still feel Bobby's own searing behind him and hovered towards the door, intending to go after Mike. Something was welling in his body that he couldn't stand. It made him feel unsteady in his movements.

Only then did the Puppet notice that his journey was blocked by something in front of the door. It sat on the ground, propped against the closed door, and stared up at him. It wasn't its wobbly body or resemblance to a standard puppet that triggered his interest, but how uncannily it looked to the Balloon Boy model. The eyes, the coloring, how it looked like a human child; it certainly was an odd animatronic staring up at him.

Marionette moved in closer and stared down at the limp animatronic. Its large, blue eyes stared back at him, judging him, and Marionette felt his insides twist with a sourness. He couldn't remember the last time that he felt so out of sorts, especially when staring at something that looked so much like Balloon Boy. It looked  _so much_ like Balloon Boy.

Instead of teleporting out of the restaurant, the smarter decision, Marionette reached out again. He could feel the growing anger around him and the pounding heat from restless spirits laying blame on him, but he still reached out. The puppet boy did not show the same amount of anger. He could feel its fear, its sadness, and some frustration, but there was something else there; familiarity. He didn't realize how deep he had gotten until he heard the hushed voice of a child from inside the core of the animatronic.

" _Where did you go?"_

…Whatever that meant, it didn't mean what Marionette thought it meant. It couldn't; he was hallucinating the sound of Balloon Boy from the nightmare he had before. The similarities were uncanny, the animatronics were similar, but it was all a coincidence. The Puppet still moved back from the puppet child, still staring into those bright blue eyes, and then looked to the other. The anger, the pain, it was all so feverish as he looked over Bo Peep and Doc. Hickory and Dickory seemed largely devoid of any soul activity.

Then he was looking back at broken Bobby Black Sheep, staring at him across the room, dragging herself closer. She was the spitting resemblance of Mangle. Between her and Balloon Boy- Balloon puppet- they were so much like the Toy animatronics that he had knew. Their behaviors, their emotions, their eyes… But this was just how it was. They were all made by the same company; of course they were similar. ARI had built these animatronics and according to the files that he and Mike had found-.

" _Remind me to ask about 'concept unification' when we get back to Fritz."_

They had been dismantled, but that continuation. What had Mike meant by that question? At the time, Marionette had been too distracted to even think about what Mike had said. He wasn't rationally clicking one together with the other. He wasn't thinking of retrofitting or progress, or that single room that could separate exterior and interior parts. He had been the last one planned, but they couldn't find him, and he just accepted that the Toys were long gone. After all, William didn't care about broken things. He used them until he couldn't anymore and then threw them away.

…Unless he could still use them.

A growing panic started to fill him as he looked around at the ones staring at him. It tingled along his limbs as the growing static started to buzz in his audio receptors. It was only now that he remembered that horrendous cracking noise that night, in the early hours of the morning, that cracking as plates came apart from metal endoskeletons. The Toys were taken apart piece by piece while he waited for his turn in the dark halls of his father's dungeon. They were dismantled, tugged apart piece by piece, rendered scrap of their previous bodies, but then what happened next?

The answer came in the sudden wash of angry voices that overtook him from the inside out. If he could've retched then he would've, to force the voices out with his own, but he could do nothing but tremble in place and look around at the animatronics who he had just attacked to save Jeremy and Mike.

They were the same animatronics who he had left behind that night.  _The others knew what he did._

* * *

The back of the van opened and Jeremy jumped back in horror, only to be relieved to see that it was Mike. The security guard looked through the back before wincing. "Damn it, Mari…"

"What? What's wrong?" Jeremy asked in paranoia. Foxy also looked over in alertness and clear concern. Mike gave a weary exhale and tapped his fingers on the door.

"Mari's still inside… You two stay here. I'll go back in and get him." Mike then shut the door and started to jog back around the corner. Before he could get there, he could hear Foxy open the back door and call out.

"If ya get in deep water, come get me!" Foxy assured and Mike gave a noncommittal wave back at him. He loathed climbing back into the arcade, but he wouldn't risk waiting for Marionette. Not when he already wasn't supposed to be staying behind like this. He passed down the aisle, ignoring Sly who looked like he was trying to stand, and approached the kitchen door cautiously. At first it sounded deathly silent. He could just imagine Marionette still inside, staring down Bobby, and fought the urge to sigh impatiently as he reached for the door.

He couldn't tell if it was touching the door, pushing it open more, or just stepping into a closer vicinity, but the madness he was struck with was overwhelming.

With a heavy pounding of his head preceding it, he was bombarded by multiple furious and distorted voices. It was as though they came straight from inside, like when they had tested telepathy in the past. Though instead of the gentle and soothing tone of Marionette, it was all of this, and it was enough to cause Mike to stumble back.

" _What the hell was that?!"_ He was almost afraid that the animatronics would hear his thoughts, but this didn't seem to be the case. He took a moment to calm himself down and regain his bearings, then tried to approach the door again. The sound was still unfathomable and largely unbearable, but he could finally peer through the slot in the door.

Marionette was just hovering there in the center of the room, twitching, and only turned his head so that his gaze could constantly shift amongst the animatronics. They weren't moving in on him, but it almost looked like he was frightened, or in pain.

" _It's got to be all this noise!"_ Mike naturally assumed. He briefly thought through his choices before they landed on the music box, still over on the office desk. He dashed to grab it and hurried back, easily dodging Sly's grabbing hand as the animatronic started to pull itself off the ground. As far as Mike was concerned, he wasn't the one who was in immediate danger. He nudged the door open with his foot and was again hit by distorted words and accusations.

Instead of trying to decode them, Mike wound the box and then slid it across the floor towards Marionette. It skidded over the tiled floor and came to a stop right where he expected, and chimed out the music. He then watched the room carefully, looking for a reaction.

The only one that gave a full physical reaction was Marionette. Mike watched as he slowly dropped to the floor and slumped exhaustedly onto the tile floor, dropping into unconsciousness. However, the calls and voices, the static and pain, all quieted down until it was entirely silent. Once he thought that maybe it was safe, Mike cracked the door open further and looked over the animatronics. Most of them had lowered their heads, save Bobby, and none of them moved or acknowledged him at all, so he assumed that they were subdued.

" _Here goes nothing…_ " Mike stepped into the room, passing by the Balloon Boy looking puppet, and took a few hesitant steps towards the fallen animatronic. He leaned down, briefly looking over the others that just seemed to stare blankly, and then started to pull Marionette into his arms.

He was interrupted by a few heavy thumps and a crack, and looked over just in time to see Doc stride forward and kick the music box, which skidded right back out of the kitchen door, with the boy puppet had propped open behind Mike.

"… _Well, I'll be damned…_ " He would've been impressed if he hadn't realized that this meant the music box had done literally nothing. The phone call tip had been wrong.

Mike shoved himself upwards, clinging to Marionette, and tried to clamor back. Unfortunately, all the animatronics moved in at once, all with a vigor that he couldn't have anticipated. Mike managed to get his tazer out and jolted Hickory, looping his other arm around the Puppet's middle and trying to drag him out of the arcade. This almost worked until Bo Peep's good wrist locked onto Mike's and the two began a tug of war. He continued to back up, stumbling over the sheep and kicking it towards Bobby, who was slowly dragging herself closer.

Hickory started to move back in, now with Dickory following in with him. If they reached him then he knew he would be trapped, so he kicked Bo Peep in the back of the leg and slipped out of her grasp. If it wasn't for Sly, who then barged through the kitchen door and rushed him from behind, Mike would've made it out. Instead, it became a blur of animatronic hands grabbing at clawing at him.

Through the growing panic, Mike felt Marionette's hands grabbing onto his arm and weakly squeezing. He was starting to waken, and this alone managed to push Mike to get his second wind. He swung back and cracked the end of the tazer into the side of Sly's head. The weasel jerked back and his grip weakened, just enough that Mike could slide out. Unfortunately, he immediately fell forward into Hickory and Dickory's grasp. Still determined, he jolted Hickory with the tazer, feeling a light shock back from its grasp. He yanked Marionette closer and continued his struggle.

It wasn't until Sly was back on him and the mice had fully gotten ahold of his tazer and arm that Mike realized there was no escaping the animatronics' grasp. With no other options, Mike shoved Marionette off and out of the group, trying to spare him from whatever they intended to do next. Thankfully, the Puppet caught himself before his face hit the ground, and he was slowly rousing more and more, struggling against the sedation of the music box and whatever else these things had done to him beforehand.

Mike continued to fight, but there were too many of them. Hickory got a full hold on his right arm and Dickory on his left, subduing him and dragging him over towards Doc, who hadn't moved since kicking the music box out of the room. Both him and Bobby just watched. Sly and Bo Peep fell back to watch as well, like they knew exactly what was coming.

Marionette pushed himself off the ground and looked over to the scene. His eyes widened in horror as the static edged into his mind. He knew what they would do- or what Doc intended on doing.

Doc stared down at Mike and for the first time, he swore that the mouse could fully see him. It reached out and grabbed ahold of his shoulders, then leaned itself down, its mouth widening open. It intended to bite him through the flimsy mask. He could only imagine what the hidden teeth underneath looked like and hoped they were small and dull, unlike the ones that Bobby was showing of. With a sudden rush of adrenaline, Mike yanked his arm free of Hickory and planted his palm on Doc's face, trying to shove him back.

He was running out of time. Any moment and Doc would be biting down on him, content with trying to kill him in front of Marionette, inching closer as he tried to push him back…

And then, to almost his disbelief, he heard Marionette's voice.

" _Down the Rabbit hole, we saw you come in.~"_

The sudden singing was almost as surprising to the animatronics as Mike. The strength that Doc was using to push onward suddenly wavered and he hesitated. His head cocked to the side, listening in. Mike could've thought of a more appropriate time to sing, but it was obvious that it was already changing his attacker. Marionette was subduing them.

" _Through the glass of our cages, chained up where we live,~"_ Marionette quietly continued as he pushed himself further off the ground.  _"Where we live…~"_

The animatronics looked confused and some even hesitant to approach the singing Puppet. He looked around at them, listening to their sudden silence, and his gaze fell on the smaller puppet.

" _Please don't be afraid,~"_ Marionette murmured as he reached out for the 'child's' hand.  _"We're a little bent.~"_ The Balloon Boy puppet rose up on narrow legs and stepped over to him, wobbling as it did so, and offered its hand. Marionette took it, tightening his own fingers around the smaller fist which couldn't do the same.  _"Broken souls looking for a way to start again,~"_ he murmured. Then Marionette drew his hands away and raised off the ground, all the while studying the others.  _"Start again…~"_

There was a hesitation then. Long enough in fact, that Mike started to wonder if that was the entire song, even with the soft chiming that continued to trill from Marionette's core. This wasn't the case though as he turned his head back to see Marionette approaching Sly and Bo Peep. The human tried to turn further and found that Hickory and Dickory's grip had loosened a bit. Perhaps enough that he could work himself free from their hands.

Now standing in front of Sly, Marionette couldn't help but see the similarities, even if they were ones located down beneath the changed exterior. Only now did he really see the damage that he had done; Sly's mask was almost completely folded off and parts of its endoskeleton could be seen.

" _Listen to the voice keeping you alive.~"_ The Puppet reached upwards to its mask and began to fix it back into place, trying to fix the damage they had caused. " _You need us, we need you, it'll be alright.~"_ The mask was snapped back into place and looked slightly better, even though it still had the grotesque look to it. Marionette drew his hands back slowly,  _"Yeah, it's alright.~"_

Then his gaze went to Bo Peep and to her missing arm. His voice briefly broke out of tune, but he recovered as he looked to the arm laying on the ground abandoned across the room. He drew over to it and knelt onto the ground, taking it into his arms and hugging it close.

" _We don't want to stay under lock and key,~"_ he murmured as he raised again. He turned himself towards Bo Peep and crossed to her. He tentatively set the arm back in place, peeling back her loosened exterior so that he could see inside. _"You can help break the curse, we all want to leave.~"_ Mike wasn't sure how Marionette did it, but the arm stayed in place. " _Want to leave…~"_

It was only now that Marionette turned fully to Doc. Only now that his attention was fully on the mouse that had been ready to bite Mike. He tightened his hands and held his ground against him. In a sense, he pleaded past Doc, past the anger, and to whatever still waited underneath that.

" _How can we ever be free, when our prison is skin deep?~"_ Doc shuddered visibly and Bobby drug itself closer.  _"Left to rust, underneath,~"_ Marionette continued to almost plead with them, looking around at what was once his friends.  _"_ _Buried us down below so no one sees!~"_

And Mike was floored. Unlike at Chipper's, unlike in Afton's, the animatronics had gone from completely murderous to fully passive. Once again, he was left in awe.  _"Daddy's little monsters…~"_

The room was silent for a few moments, save for the light chiming resonating through the Puppet's chest. The tenseness that had been so heavy had softened and the voices were no longer audible. Hickory and Dickory lowered their heads as though dormant and Doc had lost complete interest in Mike. Every one of them seemed affected.

Then there came the creaking as Bobby decided to drag itself closer to the scene. Marionette turned his head to look at her, looking over her broken body, and started to hover closer.

" _If we could only shed our shells, wear a mask and escape these cells.~"_  Marionette lifted Bobby's head until he could see her endoskeleton and the familiar yellow eyes underneath.  _"On the surface, you could flee.~"_

Its eyes widened and for a moment he had a flash of a memory. He could remember cupping Toy Foxy's face after  _he_ had broken everything. That first night after the assault, that made them the Mangle, and his promise to then protect them that night at the old pizzeria. He almost kept that promise to stay with Toy Foxy- all the lost souls until they found a way to be set free. Yet then came that night at Afton's. There came a fate that they were all supposed to share, but he hadn't.

Marionette eyes widened in horrible realization. The repercussions of his actions stared to creep up on him and his voice cracked,  _"You could've gone if… you were me.~"_

And suddenly that night that he had blocked out came back. Him leaving his box, him teleporting out of Afton's and returning to Freddy's alone, even when they were still being 'worked on' in the other room. All the Toys went in there together, facing the fear as one, but he had left alone and then hid at the Pizzeria, and dodged the results from their hunting. They all did the crime, but they didn't all pay the price.

" _Though you couldn't hear my voice,~"_ Marionette began _, "I should have stayed, but I made my choice.~"_ Tears poured down his mask as his voice became more uneven. Distorted tones started to grow louder and were starting to suppress his voice. He started to sing louder and in a more frantic tone.  _"You would stay and I got to leave.~"_ He shuddered with chiming sobs as he tightened his hold on Bobby's head. He had used them to help him and then threw them away; he truly was William Afton's son.

" _Thanks to you, now everyone will see,~"_ Marionette lamented with despair,  _"Daddy's little monster!~"_

With that, there was no more singing. He collapsed to the floor once more and broke down into pathetic weeping, barely holding himself up as purple began to spatter onto the tiles. The same purple that decorated  _his_ skin; suddenly he the familiar selfishness. They could all see it washing out of him and branding him for the crimes that they previously accused him of. It was equal to any confession.

Mike looked back between Hickory and Dickory before trying to move his arms. They easily slipped through the limp fingers and suddenly he was free, but not yet bold enough to reveal this. A few more moments of terrible sobbing passed and the urge to move in and get Marionette was almost unbearable.

There was the familiar pain in his chest. Mike couldn't stand the crying and even though he was used to it, it wasn't usually like this. It wasn't usually this heartbreaking.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I left you." The voice was rather faint, but Mike could assume that the others could hear it better. "I was scared… I didn't want to die that night."

" _Oh God,_ " Mike tensed with growing discomfort.

"But I promise- I swear- I can make it up to you… I'm still your friend, I can fix you." Marionette reached forward and took Bobby's face in his hands again. "I'll put you back together."

It was the Balloon Boy puppet that truly reacted to this. It took it as an invitation to draw in closer to the Puppet and stood alongside him, looking to him attentively. Bo Peep was next and took a few heavy steps forward, but wouldn't move in any further than this, even as her sheep bumped the back of her leg. The tone had changed; the anger was gone and a looming somberness had swallowed the room.

Though he knew it could be a mistake, Mike stepped past the mice and approach Marionette. It was like he didn't exist at all; the animatronics had completely forgotten that he was there and that they were supposed to be killing him. Even Marionette himself seemed to be too distracted to notice. Or he was until the security guard was nearly within arm's length. Then he managed to pull himself together enough to look back at Mike.

"Mike, help me," Marionette was nearly begging. "I can't leave them like this. I need to fix them."

Mike took one look at Bobby, looked around at the others, and then stared at Bobby once again. He would've had an easier time trying to piece the glass in the door back together. All the others could be cleaned up fine enough, but Bobby was a mess. Bobby was just broken enough that Mike didn't know if she could be fixed. Especially if she would then proceed to break herself apart again.

"Okay," the human drew out as he looked over Bobby, who was now staring at him. "I'll see what I can do…" He turned away stiffly, "Let me get something out of the van-." All the animatronics were now staring at him, which wasn't exactly comforting but Mike felt generally less concerned for his life. Even though he had almost just been bitten by the largest of them.

Mike was in a sort of confused daze. Largely because this situation had gone from dire to contained so quickly that his adrenaline, the growing panic, was telling him that he was still in immediate danger when he wasn't. It wasn't like any of the times before; the animatronics had been talked down. Mike had just started to assume that any animatronic other than Marionette or Foxy was a ticking time bomb, unable to be reasoned with and largely unwilling to trust any adult humans. Even Foxy was borderline with this theory.

It was obvious in the exchanged words that his thoughts in the car were correct; the animatronics were the dismantled Toys. That was about all the answers that he was going to get. He wasn't going to ask Marionette about more details after all of this, not with how distraught he looked.

" _So, to sum this all up,"_ Mike mentally went over as he headed to the van.  _"The Toys used to be at Freddy's, got canned, were dismantled, and then were sold to a random arcade so that someone could make a quick buck. That probably means that Mari was supposed to be the monkey… But he left before he could be altered. Probably would've done the same thing myself…"_ Here it was, all cut and dry, both simple and complicated.  _"…Only real question is why Foxy thought driving out here was a good idea,"_ he added as he opened the back of the van.

He wasn't surprised when Foxy's face was waiting there, pressed into his own space. "Where's Mari?" he asked dangerously, very prepared to storm back inside the restaurant and lose himself to whatever came next.

"He's safe. It's a long story," Mike excused, then looked to Jeremy. "I need the tool box. Whichever one has the most stuff in it." Jeremy looked confused, but did as suggested and started to look through the back of the van, clearly nursing one of his hands. After watching a moment, Mike looked back to Foxy, "Did you know they were from Freddy's?"

Foxy stared for a few seconds. Then he answered, "It wouldn't'a mattered." Which meant 'no', he had no idea that they were from Freddy's. Mike expected him to ask further, but the fox did not. It was like he didn't even want to know who they were. In a way, Mike wasn't too surprised by this. It was probably easier to pretend that he no longer knew them.

Jeremy handed over a heavy, green toolbox before returning to sit down. In the motion of doing so, Mike could see some dark red, or what looked to be red in the darkened van, caked in his other palm. "Thanks. By the way, you're bleeding. In case you didn't notice." The nonchalant tone went largely unnoticed as Jeremy uncomfortably slipped his hand behind himself.

"It's- It's nothing. I cut it on the glass, but it'll be okay until we get back… We are getting back soon?" Jeremy's voice betrayed his worry and Mike's features softened, sympathetic to the night that Jeremy had been though now that he witnessed the full extent of it.

"Yeah. I've just got a few things to deal with, then we'll be out of here," Mike assured before closing the van doors again and heading back inside. Foxy turned his attention to Jeremy yet again.

"Lemme see it, Lad," Foxy said. Jeremy hesitated and shuffled awkwardly in his kneeling. "Come on, I won't bite." This was possibly the worst wording considering the situation, but finally the human caved and scooted closer. Foxy took his injured hand and looked over the sliced palm. "Pretty deep. That's gonna be stingin' tomorrow."

"Heh, it's stinging now," Jeremy awkwardly agreed. His nervousness sunk back in, "Do, uh, do you think it needs stitches?"

"Nah! Just a lil' wrap and… Here, hold on." Foxy started to look around the back of the van. "We got anything clean in here?" The answer was almost a resounding no until he spotted a small, red box underneath some things. He carelessly shoved the stuff off and yanked out the box. It was, to his and Jeremy's relief, a small first aid kit. "Ah! Here's what we need…" Foxy began to shuffle through the small box. "Com'ere, Jer'my."

It was so seldom that Foxy called him by his name that it was almost jarring. Jeremy still obeyed and shuffled in closer, before sitting down beside the fox. His hand was taken by the captain, who then looked it over before reaching into the box. There really was little in the box, but the gauze wrap was already enough to deem it as useful. There was also a small bottle of some sort of antiseptic.

"Pop this open," Foxy said and dropped it into Jeremy's good hand. He then went along with unrolling the bandage and cutting it with the sharp tip of his hook. The human dabbed some of the fluid on the cut and then hissed in pain, clenching at the stinging. In this moment, Foxy took his hand and swiftly started to wrap it up. This continued for a few moments, with the pain easing as the nasty wound disappeared under cotton. The quietness of the van was a comfort that Jeremy hadn't anticipated. It almost made things feel normal.

"Lad, I'm sorry," Foxy broke in. His voice was filled with remorse. "I… I let this happen. I was supposed ta take care of ya an I muxed it all up." While Jeremy wouldn't disagree with this being at least some of Foxy's fault, he didn't like how upset he sounded. Not when he usually was so brimming with sureness.

"It's okay, Foxy. It happens… We just made a bad call. It won't happen again." The animatronic gave a noncommittal sigh. "A-And I would be dead if you didn't come in and protect me! That… That makes up for it."

"Maybe…" With the bandage finished, Jeremy pulled it into his lap and somewhat cradled it. He was about to thank Foxy again when one arm looped around his back. "Ya know yer my favorite, right? Me only First Mate?" Foxy asked, checking to make sure. The human gave a small smile.

"Of course. Who else would- would come all this way to adventure with you, Captain?" he gave the fox a warm, but shaky smile. He didn't expect Foxy to suddenly pull him in.

"Aye, yer right, Lad. The only one. My only first mate," Foxy murmured as he rested his head atop Jeremy, nearly nuzzling into his sandy locks. "I'd always protect you."

By now, Jeremy's face was nearly ablaze by the gesture. He had never been held this tight by Foxy before. It was odd… But he would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy it. Foxy did make him feel safe, even as the dread of Hickory's continued to loom nearby. For the moment, everything was okay. Though this was followed by a second of uncomfortableness as Jeremy realized what they were doing and drew back.

"…Thanks. I- We needed that." It felt a little better to suggest that Foxy needed it to. The van then grew silent once more. "…I needed that."

Inside the Funcade, Mike returned to the dining room to find everything slightly different. Marionette was still with Bobby and the Balloon Boy puppet, but now Bo Peep and Sly had moved in closer to the Puppet, looming over him. Doc was maybe a step or two closer, but Mike really couldn't tell. He wandered back to the group and knelt beside Marionette.

"Alright, where do we start?" Mike asked as he opened the toolbox. He was answered by Marionette offering him Bobby's arm, which he was cradling instead of Bo Peep's. The wrist was limp and full of exposed wires; obviously a task for someone more skilled than Mike. Though he didn't know if even Fritz could fix something like this. He dug into the toolbox for a screwdriver small enough to fix the first bolt he could see. "Let's see what we can do about all of this…"

What followed was one of the most challenging puzzles that Mike had ever gone up against. Separating wires, tightening screws, manipulating joins; he literally was putting Bobby back together, and it was a long, tiring job. Occasionally he would become stumped, whether it be through not knowing where to go next or from the growing strain of such a large task.

In one instance, Mike was forced to draw back for a moment of rest. He rubbed at his cramping wrist and looked down at the mangled head laying in his lap. This thing which had previously tried to bite him now laid with its head on his lap, neck stretched out to work on, and waiting expectantly. With all honesty, Mike couldn't very well claim that he knew what he was doing. He then inhaled and started to reach in again, with his hands resting poised above the exposed wires.

It was then that Marionette laid his hands upon Mike's and coaxed them down to the base of the exposed wires. He showed Mike exactly where to go and guided his hands along with the following movements. It kept him going. After all, if it wasn't for Marionette, Mike wouldn't have even had the choice to help. And while he had more than a little trouble sympathizing with these bots, even with the tragic circumstances, he was willing to do it, because it was the right thing, because Marionette needed him too.

In the end, Mike couldn't fully fix Bobby. He could tighten her limbs, Marionette could tug and pin the flimsy fur and fabric together, but there were still issues. This aside, even Mike felt somewhat more successful when he could glue the rubbery mask back together and snap it back onto her face. After the time that passed- it could've been hours, but Mike hadn't been checking- he was certain enough that he was in the clear. Maybe it was the song, maybe just Marionette's apology, but they were remaining passive.

Though Mike didn't trust them not to change their minds, especially with five-twenty looming on the horizon. The sooner they were back in the car, the better. So, when Bobby was to a more stable state, while still trying to crawl around on the floor, seemingly refusing to try standing and walking, Mike decided that it was time to try getting out. Especially in case someone did swing by to check up on the arcade. After all, as far as they knew, Mike was still here, working the entire night.

"Mari…" Mike stood and reached down to take the Puppet's shoulder. "We should go."

"But… I can't leave them like this," Marionette protested. "…I can do more."

"You can't- You already-…" Mike wasn't sure where to go with this. He looked around at the others. Would they put up some sort of fight and refuse to let them go? It could be very possible, which would only make this more difficult. "Morning's going to come and someone's going to see us. We need to leave while we have the chance." He tugged the animatronic upwards a bit. Marionette clung to his arm, slowly raising off the ground with him, and holding on for dear life while doing so.

Mike looked around warily at the surrounding animatronics. They weren't reacting to his words, or not showing it, and the boy puppet was now missing. With Marionette now standing, Mike put an arm around him to lead him out. The Puppet was unmovable from the spot, barely willing to budge even the slightest bit.

"There must be more…" Marionette quietly protested. "Something else, something more."

"You already put their parts together. I mean, look, they all look a lot less busted. I don't know what you did to Bo Peep's arm, but it's as good as new," Mike pointed out while gesturing towards Bo Peep. "It's an improvement!"

"But does it make up for what I did…?" Marionette quietly asked. He tightened his grasp on Mike's arm. " _I_ made them like this, Mike. I put them in their bodies and then I abandoned them. What monster would do that?" His mind went to his father and he began to feel the tears fighting to return. Mike's gaze grew a bit firmer. He had a rather good idea.

"Golden Freddy did." Mike immediately regretted saying it, dreading that he had only made the situation worse. Marionette looked upwards at him in alarm and stared. One of the others made a squeaking noise, but it was deathly silent otherwise. The sentence had left a silent questioning.

Mike ignored the others and instead turned Marionette's face gently to face him. "You did more than Goldie would've. You've just secured them another day off the chopping block," he gestured out at them. This would've been the best time for them to break in and do something. They looked around at each other in response, calculating some part of the conversation. "But if we stay, we're on the same block. I'm looking at vandalism already for Foxy's throw down on the door." Keep the conversation light; try to delay the hurt.

It was at that moment that Marionette suddenly jolted. As though he had been struck, he straightened abruptly, his eyes glowing again as he turned to look back at Doc. Mike could hear a low humming along with some sort of a muffled, deep voice. It was similar to the shouts of anger earlier, but only one voice and without the aggression. The human was unable to understand, but Marionette heard everything as clear as could be.

" _You need to leave. If you stay, they will change you too. They'll put you on stage with Bonnie. That's where they were going to put you."_

He chimed back, lowly, in tones that were just out of Mike's range of hearing.  _"I'm sorry,"_ he apologized again.

" _It's okay. We can forgive you."_

It was as though a weight was lifted from his shoulders. Marionette almost couldn't believe it and he hovered back hesitantly. Mike caught the gesture and reached over to grab the toolbox. He briefly met eyes with Bobby, still feeling ultimately unnerved in her presence, but she just stared back without making any moves forward. He stood and turned around, only to find that Bo Peep had taken his place.

She brushed her fixed hand, which Marionette had unintentionally broken, over the Puppet's back. The motion was surprisingly gentle, but rather curt, as she drew back when she saw Mike watching. Apparently, they still weren't trustful of any security guard. He understood it well enough and ignored it. Instead, he reached an arm around Marionette and went to guide him out. This time the Puppet went along with him. They passed Sly by the door and both he and Marionette locked gazes for a few moments. Mike heard the distortion; they exchanged brief words.

Sly followed at a distance as Mike led Marionette out of the dining room. They only stopped so that the latter could lean down and grab his music box, and then continued to the front door. Mike was halfway past the glass when he heard what sounded like a child's echoing giggle.

"I hope that's just some sort of reflex and not a war cry," Mike muttered as he stepped out and turned back. Marionette was staring into the Prize Corner. "Come on, Mari. We're running out of night."

"I know… Take this." Marionette handed the box through the door. "I'll be right there. Don't worry." Then he headed straight into the room. He apparently expected Mike to wait, but at this point he wasn't comfortable leaving him alone. Not until he made sure that he would be safe.

Mike peered into the Prize Corner and spotted the source of the giggle from earlier. There was the Balloon Boy puppet slumped against the counter and clutching a plush mouse to his chest. Marionette knelt in front of them and, unlike the others, Mike could hear the faint exchanging of words. Perhaps because they didn't know he was watching. He couldn't make out much of what was being said. Marionette reached forwards and gently rested his hand on the boy's shoulder, tilting his head as he did so, and whispering soft apologies and promises.

Then the boy puppet returned such a gesture by reaching out and offering Marionette the plush that he had. It was obviously one from the prizes and he most likely only had it to give to the Puppet. Marionette took it thankfully and tucked it into the crook of his arm, then pulled Balloon Boy into a hug.

Mike couldn't watch anymore of it. He felt bad watching this much and slipped out the front door before he could be noticed. He headed down to the van and opened the backdoor cautiously, as to not startle either occupant. Foxy was still on alert and looked to Mike with raised ears and interested eyes. Jeremy's, in contrast, was slumped on Foxy's shoulder, clearly asleep. It was almost a miracle that he could sleep through a situation like this. The security guard set the tool box aside and then whispered to Foxy, knowing he would hear him.

"We're leaving. Wake up Jeremy and he can follow me back to the pizzeria." Foxy gave a still salute and Mike shut the doors again, then headed to his own car. He was almost surprised to see that Marionette was already inside and in the passenger seat. It would be another long ride, so it wasn't as though there was much sense to starting out in the back. The music box was sat in the back seat and Mike started the car.

"We're going to lead Jeremy back to the pizzeria, to make sure Foxy and him get home alright," Mike pointed out. He noticed the Puppet's prolonged quietness, "Are you going to be okay?"

"I will be," Marionette assured somberly. "Not now… But I will be tomorrow… Which should be any minute now." At this comment, Mike checked his watch, winced at the time, and grumbled as he pulled out of the parking lot. It would be a long drive and perhaps a largely silent one. "Mike… I want to tell you about that night," Marionette admitted in a hushed tone. "…But not yet. Let's enjoy our car ride together first."

It could wait a few moments longer, he assumed. Mike didn't say anything. Instead, he reached out, offering his hand to the Puppet. Marionette took it without a second thought and clung for dear life.

Hickory, Dickory, and Doc's Funcade disappeared into the distance.


	74. Chapter 74

After the night they had, walking into Foxy's was almost a sort of blessing. Mike unlocked the back door and ushered Foxy inside with Jeremy in tow. As the fox animatronic headed over to the stage to sit down, looking mentally exhausted, Jeremy followed further and moved one of the dining room chairs to sit down. He didn't look to be in a rush to go home just yet, which Mike understood. After the night's events, he didn't expect to get home and sleep. He had a better chance of getting home to catch more of that pathetically goofy soap opera.

It was then that Marionette trailed his fingers over Mike's shoulder to coax him along before heading down to the Prize Corner. With one glance back at Foxy and Jeremy, Mike followed Marionette into the Prize Corner. The Puppet was currently opening his box, tracing his hand over the lid slowly as he did so. He almost seemed lost as he stared down into the box of his own.

"...I lost my first box at Afton's," Marionette revealed quietly as he opened the other half of the lid. "I didn't know it was Afton's. I probably would've if I looked hard enough, but I… Didn't have a chance." He gave a simulated sigh and a low tune of distress. His hand moved to rest on the edge of the box while the other lifted the plush so that he could study it. The plush mouse stared back with a stitched smile. "…I still remember that night… And I would like to tell you about it if you'll listen." He looked over expectantly, as though needing the assurance.

"Course I will, and I'm not going to judge you for what happened. I still stand by what I said," Mike assured and leaned against the counter. He waited to move in, not knowing whether the other wanted him to yet. He couldn't help but feel some amount of guilt for what happened, considering that he was the one that initiated going to the arcade in the first place.

"Thank you…" Marionette averted his gaze back to the box. He pulled the doll to his chest protectively. "We didn't really think of the consequences of our actions… We hunted him ruthlessly, leading to unintentional victims, such as Jeremy and Scott. Eventually this would lead to the closing of the restaurant, history repeating itself yet again, and we were deemed broken… I can only suppose that we all thought that we would be like the older animatronics and just be put in a back room of a new pizzeria. We were ignorant."

As he paused, Mike slightly furrowed his brows and murmured out a low, confused, "Scott…?"

"I was taken inside my box and we were all put into storage, deep inside the factory, and there we waited… Until they started taking us out one by one." Marionette shuddered slightly, "Bonnie was first. We could hear the tools and just assumed that he was being taken apart. The others were taken in one by one, taken apart, and then… There was only more left and that was me. It was going to be my turn." He could remember how cold his box had felt. As though it was made of cement; a gift box painted coffin.

"I remembered when I was a child and would be locked in my room. Being stuck in that box reminded me of that," he admitted quietly.

"You were  _locked inside your bedroom_? Who was doing that?" Naturally, there was Mike's protectiveness coming back. He managed to stay calm, but it was obvious that he was more than willing to trudge out into the dining room and start pointing fingers at Foxy. Not that Foxy was innocent, but it was a long time ago and just another thing that Marionette was fine forgiving.

"It doesn't matter anymore. What does matter is that being there, trapped in a box, unable to escape… I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand the thought that I had just began to be comfortable in my body and now it was being stolen away from me. I would be forced to stay dead, and I couldn't… I couldn't do it." He slouched forward in shame, tightening his grip on both plush and the box. "And so, I fled. I used all the power that I had- I didn't teleport much back then- and I made my way back to the pizzeria alone… I left the other toys to their fate."

With his guilt returning, now Mike stepped in and laid his hands on Marionette's shoulders. "You can't blame yourself-."

"But it's not even that I left that bothers me, I suppose. It's that I left… And then for so long I could live without thinking of it. For so long I haven't felt the guilt, not since that night and the days following it," Marionette insisted as he dropped the plush limply into the box. "Did I even mourn? How long counts as appropriate mourning?"

"Don't start mourning now. You carry too much guilt around as it is," Mike pointed out. He pulled the Puppet back against him so that he could wrap his arms around him. "You couldn't have stopped what happened. There's was nothing you could've done, so there's no reason that you couldn't save yourself." He felt the animatronic relax in his grip, growing more limp, and leaned back against the counter again. "…I don't want to dredge up more of this on you."

"No, it's fine, I need to talk," Marionette insisted. "I need it all out in the open."

"Just stop me if we go too far," Mike offered as he looked past at the wall. "Okay, let's see…" He didn't want to make this any more difficult than it already was, even though he wanted answers. "So… Did they recognize Jeremy? Is that why they were hunting him?"

"…I don't know," Marionette admitted. "Probably not. I think they would've attacked anyone… They may still see in purple, just like we did when Goldie was still with us." He then trailed into another thought. "I'll be honest, Mike, when you said that about Goldie… I felt this weird feeling, like I was suddenly exempt from what I did. Its been becoming more apparent to me that he wasn't such a wonderful person. I was completely in debt to Goldie and he knew that, and he kept me there to do what he didn't want to."

"Yeah, Goldie," Mike murmured thoughtfully. He wanted to ask more about the bear, about things he didn't know, but he didn't think it was the right time to encroach on the territory. He waited, but the Puppet didn't continue with the thought, so he moved on. "Do you have any clue what was up with the five-twenty thing? They would lose it at about five-twenty." There was a moment where the animatronic seemed lost in thought.

"…That must have been when I left. I didn't remember the exact time, but the other night I did have an alarming nightmare at the same time… No doubt connected to you at the arcade." This thought seemed to unnerve him. "They were working throughout the nightshift to dismantle- No. To 'refit' us for the arcade. That must be when they went to fix me, to change me, but couldn't find me," Marionette revealed with a slow sigh. "Because I had already left..."

"You thought you were saving your life," Mike pointed out.

"Yes, but it's not exactly the same, is it? I was only a child in spirit and my death would've been different. I suppose, perhaps, I would've had to move on. Usually, souls only move on once they have achieved some form of peace. An acceptance. Ready to let go and float away," Marionette revealed. "Like a child releasing a balloon and watching it raise into the sky."

Such a pleasant-sounding thing made Mike's stomach clench. It was as though one of the animatronics had punched him and he was only feeling it now. Then again, that very well could've happened.

"Just throwing this out there. What if…" Mike hated asking it, but the question started to leak out. "What if you came to peace with everything, wrapped everything up, would you just… Move on?" Marionette turned his head slightly in surprise. It wasn't like Mike hadn't asked a variation of this question before, but something was different this time. Mike sounded a bit too desperate in asking it. His grip tightened just a bit and he imagined strings slipping through his fingers.

Marionette decided to be honest, "A long time ago, yes, I could've just moved on if I did everything I needed to. I could've given up this life and moved onto whatever's beyond… But it's different now." He turned to face his human companion, cupping his face and drawing him in close. He was smiling again, at least. "I have you, so why would I ever want to leave?" He moved in to embrace him. "I love you."

Mike eagerly returned the hold and held on for dear life. He wanted to think that everything tonight had him rattled, but it was more than that. The Toys could've not been as forgiving. Or worse, they could've been so reassuring, so much of a comfort, that Marionette could've decided to slip away with them. Mike didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to lose him, not after everything they had been through.

The buzz of adrenaline died some time ago, but there was still that lingering pounding in his chest, the mix of fear and hope that came when he worked alongside the Puppet. He watched as Marionette drew back from his grasp and turned back to close the box. He looked a little happier and the confession seemed to have somehow helped him, but Mike still needed something more secure. He felt his mouth dry out, not content with the silence. He knew exactly what he wanted to do.

"I love you too."

Marionette came to abrupt stillness. It was almost reminiscent of his old issue about being seen and freezing in place. In any other situation, this would've been comical, but Mike was still riding off the sensation. It felt too good to just give in.

"Do… Do you mean that?" Marionette quietly asked. "You never said- I just thought you weren't ready to- if you're- you don't have to try and make me feel better… Are you?" His words were scrambled and confused as he started to look back. After all this time, he had become certain that he would never hear Mike say it back to him, but he had been content with the other ways that his affection was shown. "I didn't think…"

"I mean it," Mike assured. Then he said it again, "I love you." It was so much easier to say the second time. Marionette gave a small chime of surprise and Mike couldn't help but move in. "Come on, I'm not done with you yet," he murmured as he pulled the other back into his arms. Reacting immediately, Marionette grabbed onto him, clinging to him for dear life and squeezing him like a vice. It was just tight enough that Mike was on the border between comfortable and concerned that he wouldn't be able to inhale, but he wasn't about to push him back.

Then came that familiar trill, the delighted jumble of his internal music box, as Marionette caught the back of Mike's head and smoothly guided them together. The night suddenly didn't exist, and thoughts shut down as he became reacquainted with the fluidity of porcelain. It felt different; maybe because of the emotional rollercoaster they had just suffered through or perhaps from those words. Basic words that suddenly had such a tremendous impact. It made up for his lack of words earlier.

It was getting harder to watch Marionette's emotions pour out without being able to reach out for him. Earlier he couldn't, considering that the animatronics could've easily turned their anger on him. Now they were safe, and he had all the time in the world to kiss it better. They could alleviate it for the rest of the evening, holding his Puppet close, swearing that this was the last time that they were risking their lives for answers… If they were going to be stuck in another life or death situation, it was going to be through someone else's doing.

He pulled back briefly to catch his breath, rubbing his thumb over Marionette's mask and feeling the animatronic tremble in delight. "I don't want you going anywhere," he murmured to him. "Call me selfish, but I want you right here as long as possible." Then he kissed him again. It wasn't as though the other was protesting. He was rendered speechless, merely chiming with growing delight as he clung to his human companion. Mike didn't need any words to feel the happiness and giving him that moment after such a low point made him feel alive.

He truly did love Marionette and as much as it should have scared him, it didn't. He wasn't afraid to risk it anymore.

And as for Jeremy, he was stuck between being very confused and being very alarmed. He simply backed away from the door and headed back to Foxy, his face alit with warmth and redness spread from his cheeks to his ears. He gave an awkward cough as he sat back down at the chair, "They, uh… They aren't ready to go yet…"

Foxy noticed his odd behavior and cocked his head. "What is it?"

"Nothing!" Jeremy fought back as he looked towards the floor. He tried to get the image out of his mind as he took in what he had seen. He had known about Marionette's feelings towards Mike for a while, but he never thought it was anything beyond that. Especially not enough to walk in on it. "I just… They aren't ready."

"Uh huh," Foxy nodded slowly. He then clicked his teeth together, "Looks like ya seen a ghost… An' I don't mean the ones we were seein' earlier." Jeremy glanced over and sent him the same strange look. Suddenly, Foxy caught on, and he briefly looked to the Prize Corner in alarm before looking back. His ears twitched and his gaze looked a bit less enthused. "They're doin' that  _thing_ again, aren't they?"

Jeremy's eyes widened and his mouth started to drop open. "You- You know? You're okay with it?"

"'Course I know. I walked right in on 'em," Foxy complained with a huff. "But can I say anything? Nooo. Not ol' Foxy. He gets to toy around with me brother and I get to walk in every once in a blue moon."

"Ouch," Jeremy sympathized. Then it clicked, "This isn't new, is it?"

"That's why yer my first mate, Lad. You've always been the quick one." He honestly couldn't tell if the fox was being sarcastic or really did believe it. "What a night… Haven't had a night like this since, eh, maybe 'fore Freddy's went under? Sounds about right." He looked to the human again. "Yer goin' home soon?"

"Me? Uh, probably," Jeremy agreed. "If I don't, the Minireenas might actually hurt themselves. I told you they were fighting?" Foxy nodded. "Right, yeah, just… Oh wow, I did  _not_ expect to see that." Jeremy couldn't help but sputter out, much to Foxy's displeasure. "Not that there's anything wrong with… Animatronics and humans- I-I mean animatronics are humans, kind of. You know what I-."

"Jer'my," Foxy interrupted. "He's  _me brother_."

"…So yeah, need to get home sooner than later," Jeremy recovered and the two fell into silence. After such a long night, it almost felt weird to abandon Foxy here. "…This… This is going to be weird, but would you-… It's practically morning anyways and we don't have work tomorrow… I could take you home with me." Foxy looked confused and tilted his head. "You saved my life! The least I can do is bring you to my house."

"To fight yer lil dolls? Meh…"

"No, really, it'll be fine! They- They fight each other. They're angels with everyone else… Except Forget-Me-Not. She's a little testy at times." Jeremy was suddenly babbling, but it was largely because he was so flustered. "Aren't you curious about where I live?" This did manage to pique Foxy's interest a slight bit and he gave a metallic hum. "You'd have to fit in my car, but I don't think that will be too hard, right?"

"Worst case scenario, I destroy yer back seat," Foxy offered and Jeremy's face suddenly dropped at the thought. The animatronic felt a smirk start to form, "Ya know, I may take ya up on the offer! Let's go before it gets morning." He stood and strode over to the Prize Corner. He didn't dare look in and instead knocked on the doorframe with the back of his hook. Marionette hovered out a few moments later. Without a word, Foxy suddenly reached out to grab the Puppet and tugged him into an awkward hug.

Marionette was a little surprised by the gesture, but then hugged back, nuzzling into his shoulder. He chimed happily with the motion and they drew back. Foxy patted his shoulder with assurance, silently thanking his brother for coming after them. He didn't need to say anything for Marionette to know he was grateful.

Though when Foxy then decided to speak, "I'm shovin' off to Jer'my's. Don't wait up."

Marionette got a slightly perplexed look and Mike watched from behind. Eventually the security guard gave a blunt, "No comment."

" _I bet you won't,"_ Jeremy thought. He was instantly horrified by the thought.  _"I sound like Fritz! Does Fritz know too?! Was I the only person who didn't know?!"_ There came the cycle of shock that left him staring blankly in the distance.

"You sure you know what you're getting into?" Mike asked with slight amusement. Jeremy responded with an uncomfortable sort of look. "Yeah, I'd recognize that look anywhere. I only see it when someone's about to die or Foxy's involved." He sent a slightly smug look at Foxy, who proceeded to give a good-natured chuckle. Mike did help save the both of them, so he could pretend like he didn't want to occasionally put a hook in him.

Jeremy gave few answers as he stepped out the back door and pulled his car closer to it. It was going to be strange and he was forced to retrieve the tarp to cover the animatronic, but he found a sort of excitement out of bringing another animatronic home. It made him feel a little less lonely. It almost made him feel a little safer. Mike came out to help him, noticing Jeremy's increase of awkwardness but thinking nothing of it, while Foxy and Marionette waited inside.

It was now that Foxy decided that he was going to do something very foolish. He looked to his sibling, who looked just a little weary and was probably much more so, and dared to ask a question that he didn't want to.

"Who were they?" Foxy asked. The Puppet looked to him with a static expression. He silently watched his brother, uncertain if he wanted to go through with telling him. "I can handle it, Marion. Who were they?"

"…They were the Toys," Marionette explained as he turned to look out the propped open back door. "They had been changed into new exteriors so that they could work the Funcade."

Foxy made an inhaling noise at the reveal. That was sort of what he expected. He had never been close to the Toys, but the slight familiarity had been undeniable when confronting the animatronics in Hickory's. Then another revelation clicked into place, "Wait… Was the sheep the Mangle?" Marionette gave a small nod and Foxy shook his head. "Course it was. It was all over Jer'my," he pointed out as he started to return to character. "Wanted nothin' more than to bite 'em. Don't tell the Lad. He's skittish enough."

"I won't," Marionette agreed. "He doesn't need to know… It's hard enough that I have to know."

"Ya got things squared up?" Foxy asked curiously.

"I tried to. We tried to fix their bodies a little… I can't think of anything more I can do other than what I did…" Marionette paused before adding, "Maybe I should see to their remains in the warehouse. Perhaps they were what caused the haunting." Suddenly, Foxy seemed a little too quiet, and Marionette looked to him with concern. "…You never said what you saw there."

"Perhaps some things are best left forgotten, for now," Foxy cryptically remarked. They lingered there a moment longer with the younger staring at the older, who was looking away.

"…You know that I'm going over there for sure now, yes?" Marionette inquired playfully. Foxy gave a huff and turned on him.

"Look, Lad, we've got a good thing-." It was now that he noticed Mike and Jeremy returning to the door. "Never mind. We'll deal with this later." While he still had questions, Marionette respected the other's decision and let the conversation drop. It was too late to fight about something so trivial, especially when Foxy was too stubborn to explain what he saw.

Foxy got into the backseat of Jeremy's car as fast as he could to avoid further questioning for the night. That, and to get the ride over with quickly, as he doubted he would be very comfortable fitting into the back. He wasn't surprised when it turned out to be much less roomy than the back of the van. Especially as he had the tarp shoved over his body. However, the ride wasn't long, and even being ushered into Jeremy's apartment didn't take more than a few minutes.

"W-Welcome to my hideaway," Jeremy introduced as he nearly shoved Foxy in. He then shut and locked the door as the fox nearly stumbled in and yanked off the tarp. "Just make yourself at home! Anything you-." Before he could properly show off his home to his 'guest', let alone finish his sentence, he was suddenly rushed by his three dolls. Their faces looked the same and their eyes weren't illuminated, but they made strange noises as they sprinted to him. Instead of the usual giggles, they sounded to be in distress.

"What's wrong? Daisy?" He knelt down as the closest Minireena, Daisy, eagerly climbed up into his arms. The noises she made were odd as she climbed up on him.

"Ugh!" Daisy fussed as she bent her hands to grip at his shirt. " _Ugh!_ "

"Did you get in a fight? Is it- Is it because I was out late?" Jeremy guessed as he held the squirming doll. The door seemed to fuss more in response. As he was distracted with her, Rose started to climb up his right arm and perched on his shoulder. She began to grab at his hair and tug at his glasses. "Uh, Foxy?..." His glasses dropped into his lap and he could feel Forget-Me-Not now trying to climb his other arm. She scaled it much faster than Rose and started to mimic Daisy's disgruntled noises. "Foxy, I could use a little help here."

"Lad, I'd throw myself through glass, I'd ride in the back of yer car, but I gotta draw the line somewhere," Foxy assured with growing amusement. "Play dead, they'll think yer an empty suit."

"Foxy, that doesn't even-!" He cut off as Rose fumbled and fell into his lap. She let out a squeak and began to wriggle around, only fussing further. "Oh Rose…" He caught her around the middle and scooped her closer. Like Daisy, she clung to his shirt, and it became clearer that their frustration was from his absence. "It's okay. I made it home safe, and I'm not going anywhere else tonight." This seemed to calm down Daisy as she stopped making the discontent noises and instead fell into a content silence.

Forget-Me-Not held onto Jeremy's collar and dangled down his back, causing him to give a small cough and fidget with his collar. Foxy gave a small chuckle and stepped in closer, "Come on, Lad. Ya promised old Foxy a tour. How ya plan to do it with all yer lil dolls hanging on ya!" He reached out to remove the Minireena, seeing it as the only way to help the overwhelmed man. Right before he could touch the small doll, her head turned around and stared him down silently, eyes glowing with a strange, yellow glow. Foxy retracted his hand immediately.

" _Well, hey there! How long's it been? Ha ha ha!"_

Foxy felt the chill in his spine as he slowly turned his head to face the magician now standing behind the couch. There was something unsettling in the magician's telepathic tone. It sounded a little too fake. The two exchanged a look, but Jeremy didn't even seem to notice. He was too busy juggling the Minireenas.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!" Jeremy broke out with a smile. He managed to get Daisy and Rose calm in his grasp and made a grab for Forget-Me-Not, who proceeded to drop down to the floor and then hop away from his grasp. She watched him from a few feet away. "It's been a long night. I'll tell you all about it in the morning." He then stood with the Minireenas still in his grasp, grabbing his glasses as he did. Both Daisy and Rose were limp in his grasp and willingly let him carry them. "So, Captain, the tour. You can see the kitchen and living room. Over there's the bathroom-."

" _It's kind of funny. You're acting pretty human today!"_ Foxy only partially heard Jeremy as Max continued to drill into his mind.  _"It's funny, because I bet you never acted this human when you were one! Ha ha ha!"_

"Foxy?" Foxy's ears twitched and he looked over towards Jeremy. "Is everything okay?"

"Aye. Everything's fine, Lad," Foxy assured. "Yer lookin' tired. We'll save the tour for tomorrow, yeah? Ya need yer sleep." This surprised Jeremy, who had expected the fox to be a little more curious. He could only assume that Foxy was tired and simply didn't want to admit it.

"Huh, sure. If you're sure. I'll just… You'll be okay out here?" Jeremy quietly asked. He looked to Max, around the room, and back to Foxy. The animatronic gave a firm nod. "Okay, then… I'm going to get the Minireenas in their boxes and change." He backed out of the strangely tense room just as fast as he backed out of the Prize Corner, with the third Minireena leaping behind him.

Now it was just Foxy and Max left inside of the living room. Foxy immediately turned his attention on the shorter animatronic and stepped in closer, glaring down at him. "How human I act ain't no concern of yers," Foxy bluntly spat.

" _Why so defensive? We're all friends in these bodies. We have to be,"_ Max pointed out and turned towards the television, which was on some sort of infomercial.  _"Jeremy has never been this late. Something happened. Was is 'Baby'? Did he do this to him? Or was it you?"_

"Nothing happened…" Foxy denied as he plucked a piece of glass out of his arm and tossed it towards the sink. "An' even if it did, I woulda protected him with my life. He's my Lad."

" _He seems to think that. He idolizes you in his own way,"_ Max pointed out.  _"If you don't tell me then Marion will. Might give us something to talk about. It's going to be a long night."_

"…I'll be back." With that, Foxy decided to step out of the conversation and into the hallway. He immediately followed the sound of noise to Jeremy's bedroom.  _"Who does he think he is talkin' like that? He's actin' like he thinks I injured 'im! Probably thinks it. Everyone always thinkin' I caused a bite or hurt someone…"_ He paused in the hallway outside of the door.  _"…Thinking I bit someone, an' I didn't. Causin' a bite and biting a lad are two different things!"_ He continued to stand there, contemplating Max's suggestion.  _"…Wonder if this is how Mike feels?"_

Not wanting to get to the point that he acknowledged the hypocrisy in his behavior towards Mike, Foxy barged into Jeremy bedroom without knocking and caught the man taking his shoes off. Jeremy still leapt back like Foxy had dove in with a cry and had tried to attack him. "Foxy?!"

"Just checkin' in on ya," Foxy assured as he stepped in further. "We had a long night, Lad. I knew yer not as put together…" He trailed off as he noticed the poster on the wall of himself. Maybe Max was right; maybe Jeremy did idolize him. It made him feel a little strange, but it was a good strange when it came down to it. It was a relief to know that Jeremy wasn't just putting on a front when he said he was his 'first mate'.

"Maybe not- Maybe not after that!" Jeremy coughed out and nudged his shoes under the bed. "Next time knock, please?"

"I like yer poster," Foxy remarked, gesturing with his hook.

"What?... Oh, that! That, uh, it's… You know, it's merchandise," Jeremy scrambled to explain. "Just a decoration. Nothing weird or anything… I don't stare at you all night or something creepy like that, so don't think I do that. I just have it there to remind me that… I have somewhere to go in the morning?  _Oh wow, that sounds so much worse._ " He needed to change the subject fast, "It's really late."

"Should I stay in here with ya?" Foxy offered. Almost immediately, Jeremy rejected this idea, because the swelling of embarrassment currently filling up his insides left no room for compromise.

"No, it's okay! You'll just get bored, sitting in here all night… I'll give you the tour as soon as I get up and we'll- uh- we'll do something, okay?" Jeremy stood up and tried to usher Foxy out. The Minireenas watched from their box beds, suddenly able to giggle again and doing so at Foxy's expense.

"Alright, I'm going, Lad! Ya don't have ta be so touchy!" Foxy chuckled as he stepped back out into the hall. He didn't know what was funnier; Jeremy's flustered behavior, or him actually thinking that he could push Foxy anywhere. He had half a mind to go still to see how he would react, but decided it had been long of a night as it was. "Don't get yer sails in a knot, I was just makin' sure me first mate was feeling fine." Then again, as shaken as Jeremy was, he was much more comfortable than he would've been if he knew who had attacked them.

Suddenly, Foxy was feeling restless again, but he decided to simply shrug it off. He would let Jeremy get comfortable, get changed, get in bed, and then he would return. The lad wouldn't even know that he was keeping an eye on him.

* * *

_It was raining earlier. The concrete had a damp smell and the parking lot was vacant as he teleported into it. His body almost immediately rejected the straining of his powers. He didn't know how he had managed it, but after a few 'jumps' he had made it back, and he immediately collapsed onto the asphalt. No doubt he was in plain view of the outside cameras, but Marionette was too weak to even worry about it. It was so cold, so dark outside, and he felt almost entirely helpless as he laid there._

_Eventually he pushed himself upwards to get his porcelain mask off the pavement. His energy was slowly starting to return and he struggled to hover once more. He stood unsteadily on his legs, only staying upright because of his levitation assisting in the movement, and then pushed off the ground the rest of the way. He moved in towards the front door; it was pitch black inside of the pizzeria. Nobody was watching the nightshift tonight. Maybe nobody would ever be watching for the nightshift again. The pizzeria was now in limbo._

_Marionette fumbled with the doorknob and found it, predictably, locked. Here he was, stuck again. He didn't know if he was capable of unlocking doors and, even if he was, he was too exhausted to do it. He rested again against the door and tried to think of another way inside. Maybe a window was open. Maybe there was a weak vent. Perhaps he still remembered where they kept that spare key, if they still had one._

_The dull clicking noise alerted him to the door unlocking on its own. Marionette opened it slowly and slipped inside, looking around at what had become of the pizzeria. It looked so empty in comparison to before. They had already begun taking down décor and had folded tables and chairs away against the walls. There wouldn't be parties for quite some time, to his dismay, if there were any at all._

_He wasn't alone. Marionette only got little ways into the pizzeria before he felt that familiar sensation that signaled the arrival of his friend. Suddenly, there was Goldie, waiting in front of him. He said nothing and he made no attempt to ask any questions, as though he already knew what had happened. It wasn't too hard to guess when multiple animatronics were taken away and only one returned. The shame was immediate at Marionette began to cry, right in front of his friend. Then again, Goldie had seen him cry plenty of times._

_The golden bear reached out his hand. He tried not to move when he didn't have to, usually slumped or standing stoic somewhere, but here he reached out for the Puppet. The Puppet loyally moved in and, ignoring his hand, he collapsed onto him, clutching to him. He knew Goldie's sympathy only went so far and that he was supposed to pull himself together, but he needed it. Surprisingly, Goldie didn't push him away and instead laid his hand on his back. He held him close and then spoke._

" _You can't-."_

"Ugh, not again."

Marionette roused immediately at the sudden voice. It interrupted the dream completely and he was suddenly back in the real world, staring at the wall that was illuminated by the morning sun pouring through the windows. It took him a few seconds to pull himself together enough to realize that it had to be eight or nine o'clock. Just late enough that the light was strong, but not late enough that he woke naturally. He could feel movement on the other side of the bed and Mike fidgeting around uncomfortably.

"For the love of God, not this again," Mike muttered under his breath and he reached upwards to push his hair back. His face felt like it was on fire, though it felt clammy with sweat. He was shaking and his heart was racing and pounding in his chest. He forced himself to slow his breathing even though he felt like he wasn't getting enough air. It was almost like every other time and yet, at the same time, it felt like a completely different experience. It always felt like it was the worst one.

He turned to face Marionette and wrapped his arm around him. He wasn't even thinking of waking him up, Mike just pulled him close and pressed his face into the pillow. Marionette could feel how fast his pulse was and knew exactly what was happening. He laid his hand on Mike's arm, "Mike?"

"I feel sick," Mike muttered out. The shaking was still present, but the heat in his face was starting to already alleviate. It didn't exactly make him feel much better. "I'm tired of this."

"It's almost over," Marionette quietly comforted as he turned over to hold the human. He wasn't surprised by the attack; after the night before, he was almost surprised that it hadn't come sooner. Yet Mike managed to keep his compositor during the ordeal. Someone had to, and Marionette couldn't really say that he was as mentally stable as he should've been. He held him tighter, "Slow breaths."

It didn't last much longer. He could feel as Mike's shaking subsided and his pulse finally started to even out once more. He was exhausted, but he was almost feeling normal again, and he was just about ready to fall back asleep and forget the incident ever happened when the phone began to ring from down the hall. He didn't make a move to answer. When the animatronic began to recede from his grasp, he tightened it.

"Just ignore it. It's nothing that important," Mike insisted. He knew that if either of them got up that they would actually have to begin the day, and he wasn't ready to do that. He much preferred to continue embracing his almost completely backwards sleep schedule.

The ringing halted and the house fell into silence for about thirty seconds. Then his cellphone began to ring from the bedside. This time, Mike knew that he couldn't ignore it. He gave a weary sigh and rolled over to answer the call. "Yeah?"

"Foxy's gone!" Fritz sputtered out over the phone. "I just got over here- He's totally gone!"

"Oh, right. He's at Jeremy's," Mike coolly answered in contrast to Fritz's franticness. "He took him over in the back of his car last night."

"…He did? You're serious?" Fritz's tone completely changed. He sounded instantly relieved, "You know, it might have been a good idea to leave a note."

"That would've required staying an extra five minutes. Last night was brutal," Mike explained. He could feel Marionette's mask press against his upper back. The slight coolness was solace after the heat of being so wound up. "If we could meet up later, Natalie too, I'll bring everything up to speed."

"What did you do?" Fritz flatly asked. There were a few moments of silence. "I'm not stupid, Mike. Everyone knows that you're pulling night hours somewhere. You didn't start sneaking around Afton's again, did you?"

"No, but close enough," Mike answered. "Just as bad, but I didn't bring anything back last night, except maybe Jeremy." He was still half-awake and decided now wasn't the best time to talk. "We'll meet up and I'll tell you what was going on."

"Alright… Get a little more rest, you don't sound too good," Fritz pointed out. The call wrapped up and Mike set the cell phone aside. He couldn't very well sleep now and contemplated whether or not to get up. Coffee sounded good right now. He could give or take breakfast.

"Can we go to the warehouse today? I want to see how it is now that things have changed," Marionette asked. He didn't want to push too hard after the attack. "I can go on my own if you would prefer."

"No, I'll go with you. Gives me something to do," Mike answered. He didn't want him going into the warehouse alone, even if he had never been attacked by whatever loomed inside. It would make sense that the Toys could be haunting their own remains, but part of him doubted it was them. There was something different about the warehouse in comparison to Hickory's. Still, it seemed appropriate enough to check.

Marionette pressed back against him thankfully, hugging him tighter and chiming in contentment. Mike reached to his hand and took it in his own. "Love you." Still felt fine saying it; still caused Marionette to warble and trill in delight. He could live with the attacks, he could live with the long nights, just as long as they had mornings like this.

A few hours later, they arrived at the warehouse. Marionette teleported inside first and Mike followed by heading through the front door. Fritz had given him a spare key some time ago, but he didn't need to use it, as his companion unlocked the door once inside. He easily opened the door and stepped into the warehouse, and almost immediately stepped back out.

It was like a freezer. The air was chilled and smelled strangely damp, and Mike swore that there was a sort of fog hovering over the room, though it receded as he turned the light on. He continued inside and headed to the box of the Toys remains, where Marionette was. It seemed to get warmer as he approached the animatronic.

"Notice anything?" Mike offered asked as he looked down at the Puppet, who was currently leaning over the box and shifting through the pieces.

"Nothing stands out. It feels a little cold, which could very well be the sign of a discontent soul… But I can't feel anyone," Marionette pointed out. Once again, whatever it was seemed to be hiding from the animatronic. Mike was already convinced that the Toys had no connection to the warehouse.

"Well, there's another open-ended mystery that we can't close the door on," Mike exhaled wearily as he pulled his security jacket closed. "What are we going to do with those?"

"I…I don't know," Marionette admitted as he lifted the Balloon Boy head. "I'm not sure what to do. I feel like we should do more for them, like I need to do more for them, but I haven't the foggiest idea what we could do." Talking about the Toys changed Mike's attention and as he watched Marionette, he suddenly remembered that there was something he had forgotten.

"I'm going to call Phone Girl and see what happened this morning," Mike forewarned as he fished his cell phone out of his pocket. "I think I remember her number well enough."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Marionette didn't sound jealous, thankfully, but he did seem concerned. "She may tell the others that you are alright, and they may come after you for the front door."

"But then, how do I pick up my check?" Mike playfully answered. He then insisted further, "Jen's not going to tell anyone. I almost have dirt on her, so it should work." He looked down at the phone, frowning at his reception, and then gestured down the hall. "I'm going to step outside. If anything gets tense in here, just teleport into the car and we'll let it settle for a few weeks. Last thing we need is to stir up something that plans on following us home." This was a joke that he instantly regretted making.

Once out in the parking lot, Mike had service again and, after a few tries, managed to remember Jennifer's number well enough to call it. After a few rings, the woman answered. "Hey, what's up?"

"It's me." Apparently, she either didn't notice the number or wasn't on a phone that showed who was calling, because she nearly yelped when she heard his voice.

"Oh whoa, I didn't- I never thought you'd be calling me. Where have you been?!" Jennifer suddenly became much more panicked. "They think someone broke in-."

"Nope, someone broke out," Mike somewhat lied, but it was not entirely a lie at the same time. Someone did technically break in, but it was to break someone else out. "An animatronic broke the door open and I just hauled myself out of there. They can keep whatever I made this week to pay it, but it's just not worth it." He paused, wondering if he should tell her more of what she knew.

"Well, I won't be telling them anytime soon… I quit," Jennifer announced. She let out an exhale that she seemed to have been holding, then took in a deep, strained one as she continued. "They were going to put me on the nightshift. I couldn't even give a two weeks' notice. I  _can't_ do two weeks when animatronics are breaking down doors and things… Though they- they probably aren't going to break down much of anything anymore."

This caught Mike's interest instantly. "What does that mean? What happened?"

"Something is wrong with the animatronics. This morning when Chance went to check them, some of them weren't responding right. He couldn't get them to come on properly," Jennifer explained. Mike felt his mouth dry out in response. "But I think Chance was able to get Hickory and Dickory functioning, and Doc may have gotten turned on. He was still working when I left."

" _I couldn't have broken Bobby. I barely did anything except tighten its limbs, right? That couldn't have broken it, right?"_ Then he snapped out of this thought.  _"No, it couldn't have been me. I didn't work on the others and we didn't do enough damage... Maybe it's like Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie. Maybe they just moved on."_ The timing would make sense, but the thought of it happening so quickly was terrifying.  _"…No, what am I thinking? This is just the paranoia talking. They had a hard night like Mari; they're just not wanting to perform. That makes more sense."_

"Still there?" Jennifer asked when she didn't get a response.

"Still here, just thinking it over…" Well, she had been honest with him. Time to share his honesty. "They're the old Toy models from Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. I found some of Afton's old files and he took them right out of there and dropped them right on you." Again, not technically not a lie.

"But didn't Freddy's close down  _because_ something was wrong with the- Of course! Why am I even surprised?" Jennifer gave a weary huff. "It's not my problem anymore. I'm washing my hands of this place and that place, and if I have to dumpster dive to make it, then at least I'm not working anywhere  _near_ an animatronics."

"That's the spirit. Remember, the good stuff always sinks to the bottom," Mike pointed out. He only now noticed the music box in the passenger seat floorboard and leaned over to grab it while ending the call. " _So, what exactly did we succeed in doing? Reunited Mari with horrible memories, possibly breaking a bunch of animatronics, shredding by arm up like a block of cheese, and adding more to Afton's laundry list of garbage that he's done…"_ He opened the music box and noticed something amiss with the pieces inside.  _"And broke the music box."_

At least he was generally sure he could fix this.  _"Could've been worse, really. Made a couple of animatronics less angry, at least…"_ Then there was that next step with Marionette. He could feel the smile returning; Marionette was worth it. Mike had him, so he could live with these questionable decisions.

Inside the warehouse, Marionette was still looking through the box. The pieces didn't give off any sort of energy, so the Toys were no longer attached to them enough to haunt them. This made sense, but was also rather unnerving. Just the thought of losing control of his body or being changed into something else did frighten him. Not that it would happen; he wasn't intending on getting himself stuck in a situation where anyone would want or need to take apart his body. He was quite happy with the one he had.

It was now that he felt a strange sensation spread through him. It was a sudden uneasiness, as though he was in immediate danger, and he felt static growing in the back of his mind. He wasn't alone, and suddenly he wondered if this was what the others had been feeling. He pushed himself upwards and drew his eyes away from the box. Now glowing, they started to scan the hallway beside him and searched along the warehouse. Something terrible was in here with him.

And then he heard the footsteps. They were swallowed by the static that grew inside and he turned his head, watching as the form stepped into sight. To his immediate panic, he was staring at nothing but purple. It was a heart stopping sight.

It was him. It was the Purple Man.

The Purple Man was standing at the entrance to the office, staring down at him. His face was broken open in a gaping, black pit of a smile, matching his equally hollow eyes, save the single pinpricks of light hidden in their depths. The purple dripped down his body and a distorted voice groveled out something that Marionette couldn't understand.

Without being unable to stop it, Marionette felt the 'Pop Goes the Weasel' rattling through his chest, even when he could only vaguely hear it over the voice and the static. The man took a staggering step closer. His hands were large and long, oozing towards the floor, and he moved closer. Marionette's frenzy began to grow and he twitched, barely holding himself back. The urge to strike was overtaking him. He wanted to lash out and tackle the Purple Man to the floor, to finish it once and for all, but he held back because  _something wasn't right_.

None of what was happening made any sense. Marionette wasn't enraged enough to blindly strike; he knew that the appearance of the ghastly man was simply not rational. Even if it was him appearing as a spirit, why would it appear as this instead of as his father? He knew that William Afton was the murderer. This was just the disturbing form that they saw when hunting. This was what they saw when the Security Guards were taking the murderer's place, and their blinding anger made it a perfect target.

The Purple Man moved a step closer and Marionette hovered back. The music grew louder in warning that he could easily strike at any moment. The Purple Man just moved in quicker. He reached towards him with his long, distorted arm and continued to speak in the destroyed voice. It was as though he had no fear of the Puppet.

And he didn't, because…

…Because he was  _Mike._

The realization was sudden and Marionette's desire to lash out was suddenly gone. The fear, the forcible dread encircling him, was still there and he couldn't fight it back. Still, he knew that it was him. It had to be Mike who suddenly was the spitting image of the Purple Man. As much as he wanted to question it, the striped animatronic went with it immediately. He knew without a doubt that it was this place making him see this. Something foul and unnatural was tampering with the programming that he already had been fighting for years.

He needed out of the warehouse, now. Marionette threw out his arm and pointed in the direction of the front door, towards the office, and then abruptly vanished. Suddenly he collapsed onto the backseat of the car, still in shock, and stared at the roof of the car. He had managed to teleport himself out of the warehouse and immediately was back in control of his body. The static was gone, the fear had diminished- save the dread in reaction from what happened- and the music in his chest started to slow down. It fell out of tune, grew softer, and then he was left in silence.

Just as he was starting to get himself under control, the door above him was flung open. There stood Mike, looking normal except for the look of alarm. There was no doubt that he was the one who Marionette saw in the purple haze.

"What is it? What did you see?" he blurted out as he looked over the Puppet. He obviously was as startled by what happened as Marionette was, but also showed no fear towards him. "Is that it? Did you see something?"

Marionette's voice had broken down to chimes and dial tones as he slide over into the seat, giving Mike the room to sit down as he wrapped his arms around himself and fumbled into the fetal position.

"Damn it! I'm sorry," Mike shut the door behind him. "I knew it- I knew I shouldn't have left you alone. That warehouse is Hell's skating rink… Are you okay?" He shifted over closer, resting his hand on the Puppet's shoulder. "Nothing touched you, right?" He tried to coax him closer as the overprotectiveness returned. To him, he had just witnessed Marionette have some sort of fit, so of course he was concerned.

Marionette had certainly been touched by something. Something had reached inside and briefly poisoned his mind. "...I'm okay," he managed to get out. He tilted his head to rest against Mike's leg. "…There is something wrong with this warehouse."

"That's an understatement," Mike scoffed, but quickly returned to seriousness. He squeezed the animatronic's shoulder comfortingly before rubbing over the fabric. "Whatever's in there isn't going anywhere."

"…I think we should go home, Mike," Marionette assured. He shuffled upwards and held onto the security guard, and was comforted when an arm circled around him. "And to be entirely honest, I don't believe that I want to come back."

Mike couldn't agree more. They learned enough from the Funcade; they were going to avoid the risk for as long as they could. Some things were better left forgotten.

For now.


	75. Chapter 75

Scott had become somewhat comfortable with Ennard's patterns. Not its bizarre way of speaking, nor the changing voices and demeanor, but just with the many cycles that it went through. Like a normal animatronic during the night shift, Ennard had formed a sort of routine and followed some variation of it. It would go into the kitchen for a while- Scott suspected it was stealing the eggs and butter, but didn't know what it did with them- it would circle the living room, it would occasionally enter the garage, and when it could, it would loom about five or six steps behind Scott.

Ennard slept more during the day and stayed awake longer at night. Usually, Scott could hear it wandering around the living room while he was trying to sleep. Sometimes he worried that the amalgam would come in while he was defenseless, but to his relief this wasn't the case. Since that one night, Ennard had not barged into his bedroom since that night. In return, Scott had become a little less unnerved, and thus tried to avoid it less. Regardless of what Fritz had said, it seemed like Ennard was mostly docile. It didn't act like the others.

When something was different Scott noticed it, and Ennard's mask being left out was definitely different.

For the first time in days, Scott was intending on venturing out of his home to buy groceries. With the kittens getting old enough to try wet cat food, he knew he would need to stock up, especially since he didn't want to leave the kittens unattended once they were old enough to venture outside the safety of his bedroom. That and again, he was rapidly running out of eggs and butter. It only seemed fair to forewarn Ennard that he would be leaving, so he stepped into the garage to see to him. He expected him to be awake since it was mid-afternoon.

From the lack of Ennard and Baby's closed shell, it was obvious that Ennard had went back to 'sleep'. However, his mask was left propped on the shell's foot, which Ennard never did. It was consistent in one thing, and that was that it didn't want Scott to see its face. Though he wasn't sure why, because from what little he did see he could assume it was just a normal endoskeleton face. He didn't really want to see it, but the mask was rather tempting in how it was just completely abandoned. He would be able to look at it up close without having to involve Ennard at all.

Thus, Scott leaned down and took the mask into his hands. It was cold and heavier than he had expected, and he could already feel the latches starting to open his fingers. The lighting was less than perfect, so he moved into the living room and turned on a lamp to investigate the details further. Oddly enough, he swore that Ennard had ears, but the mask seemed to lack them. The nose was also as rubbery as expected and gave a strange, crunchy squeak when squeezed, as though dust or something had gotten into it.

It was probably dirty. At least, on the inside. He doubted that Ennard had ever received a proper cleaning, considering what it was, and while Scott wouldn't dare get that close to it, he could handle the mask. He stepped into his bathroom and looked over the mask closer. He wondered if it came off a suit or something similar. Though the only animatronic that he knew of that looked anywhere similar was Baby herself.

" _Where did I put that flyer? It's got to be somewhere, I wouldn't have thrown it out_ …" As far as Scott knew, he didn't throw anything out, so the flyer had to be somewhere. Maybe the mask was Baby's, especially considering the red tinted eyebrows. He hummed and ran his thumb over the plate, then lifted it to see if it would fit on his face. He looked into the mirror, holding it in front of him, but it was obvious that the mask wasn't going to fit like a wearable one. It certainly didn't look that appealing either, and this was in comparison to the suits Scott himself had worn.

" _I could pull it off… That's probably the best plan,"_ Scott remarked as he lowered the mask again.  _"…But where's the rest of the suit?"_ There was probably plenty left in Afton's, but it didn't explain why Ennard was only carrying it around and not a full suit. Especially if it obviously didn't like Baby's body.  _"Unless it's hiding its-… What's that?"_

Scott heard the thumping and the scuffling and nudged open the bathroom door. It was clearly coming from the garage. Before he could even question what was going on, there was a louder bang, along with a voice.

" _ **Where is it?!"**_

The voice that cried out that single line was completely unrecognizable and almost entirely terrifying.

Scott's teeth clench and he flinched in place, unsure what to do, and didn't get a chance to decide. The garage door slammed open and he only got a glance of wires before he slammed the bathroom door shut and locked it. The heavy footsteps were much faster than he expected, and a weight seemed to suddenly slam on the door. There was a shifting of wires and a gargling static, one that sounded too similar to the haunting voice a few moments beforehand.

"Scott? Sc-cott?" the feminine voice of Baby's squeaked through. "Scott, my mask- my mask is gone. I need it. Where is my mask? Do you have it?"

"Uh… Yes," Scott choked out. The knob was violently rung. "I was just…" The door was thumped against; Ennard was starting to fall into a frenzy. "I wasn't taking it, I just wanted to try it on!" he blurted out. He didn't want the animatronic thinking he stole it and attempting to attack him from it. "I was just- It was there, so I thought maybe you wouldn't care…?" The movements stopped, the shifting and thumping fell silent, and the desperate voice paused. For a few seconds, long seconds, the animatronic took in the information. "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't want to upset you."

To his surprise, he was answered with the sound of crazed laughter, which was the first trademark that Ennard was switching out voices.

"Well, why didn't you just ask?" chirped the voice of Funtime Freddy. Ironically, both voices came from the same body that had made that horrendous yell earlier. "Aww, that's so cute! Sorry to ruin the fun like that! I bet you look  _great_." Of course, in another confusing display, the 'great' was in a completely different voice. At this point, Scott had half a mind to believe that Ennard would still be willing to throttle him if the door opened. "But I need my mask back, so if you could slide it out the door…" There was a moment of silence.

"…I'll… I'll open the door." Scott unlocked the door.

"No, don't!" Scott jumped at the yell. "You don't need to do that... While I'm standing here! Let me get behind the door and then you can just slide it out, okay?" Because of his uncovered face, naturally. This actually made Scott feel a little more comfortable, but only for a single moment, because then it dawned on him that he was actually expected to open the door. "Big Cat brought out a little cat."

"Uh… What?" Scott blinked awkwardly. "What was that last part?"

"The big cat brought out the little cat!" Ennard exclaimed. Then it crackled in the same Freddy voice, "It's carrying it in its mouth instead of using hands!"

The terror returned, but for a fully different reason. That sounded an awful lot like his cat relocating her kittens.

Without warning, Scott threw open the bathroom door, unintentionally slamming it right into Ennard. The animatronic responded by shrieking, but Scott had half a mind to believe that it was more because of his lack of a mask than the door. He flung the mask against him, feeling it yanked out of his hand, and looked for his cat. As expected, there was the Sphynx pattering across the living room, carrying a kitten by the scruff of the neck.

"Oh no. Why now?" Scott exhaled wearily. "I was hoping she wouldn't do this. They do this sometimes; when they get scared they relocate the kittens." The cat disappeared into the office. "She didn't like the noise."

"I didn't mean to scare her," Ennard apologetically remarked, back to the feminine voice. It was switching back and forth more than usual today, especially if he counted the third voice in the mix. "I didn't mean to scare you either."

"I was startled… Not scared," Scott assured. Though he didn't look at the animatronic. He just watched as the cat reappeared and headed back into his bedroom to retrieve another kitten. He gave a shaky inhale. "Could you…?" He wanted to ask about the voice, about that garbled mess and which of Ennard's personalities it belonged to. Considering its behavior, it certainly wasn't a personality that Scott had or wanted to encounter. How would he even know which personality was in charge?

In fact, he almost immediately regretted starting the question and almost wondered if it was worth letting it drop, but Ennard was paying too close attention. Scott looked in its direction and noticed its blue eyes dead set on him. It was waiting for him to finish.

"…Will you be okay if I go get groceries later?" Scott backed out at the last moment. "I can't really leave yet, not while she's moving the kittens, but we're running out of… We're running  _out._ "

"Oh… Okay…" Ennard seemed very tentative in its words. "…But you are coming back? I… I didn't mean to scare you. I don't want you to leave. I like being with you."

"I like being with you too," Scott answered in reflex. It wasn't exactly the full truth, nor something he intended to say, but it seemed like making the animatronic comfortable with his best chance at keeping the house together. He didn't expect the animatronic to react as it did. It let out some strange noise of gargling metal, pitched a tad to high, and reached out to grab him. Before Scott could even recognize what was happening, his arms were grabbed by wires and he was yanked back. He choked as wires started to latch onto his body, along with one arm around his chest.

At first, Scott really did believe he was being attacked. His adrenaline started to pump, a lightheaded feeling sunk in, and he grabbed at the wiring with every intention to yank it off. It was only once Ennard started producing the Freddy laugh track that he realized that it was not attacking him, but hugging him from behind.

"Ha ha ha! You're  _adorable!_ " Ennard gushed, its tone having switched from the somberness back to this manic behavior. "And you're so warm! Your body's all warm inside out; you're perfect!" This sudden display of affection wasn't exactly surprising. Nothing that Ennard was saying was too different from the norm. However, something felt different.

Out of everything said today, or yelled, or choked out, or happened in general, this was the one thing that made Scott feel the most afraid, because for a split moment he actually  _did_  like it.

* * *

Things were only semi-normal. Foxy was back in the restaurant and on his stage, Marionette was back in the Prize Corner, and everyone was in their place, but something was amiss. Nobody was entirely sure which of them was triggering it, either. Mike especially noticed the odd behavior between both animatronics and how both were dealing with it in specifically different ways.

Foxy was visibly lethargic. He went through the motions just as stiffly as a Chipper's animatronic, with only the positive of not literally falling apart in front of them. At least he was doing well enough when he attended the birthday party scheduled in for the day, but otherwise he seemed to wander the restaurant in a sort of daze.

Marionette was the exact opposite. If anything, he was overworking himself. He continued to circle from the Prize Corner to the dining room, to the arcade, and back to the Prize Corner. Whether it be handing out tokens or just tending to the children, he was making up from where Foxy was lacking.

Yet both of these options were dead giveaways that the weekend hadn't smothered out what happened at the Funcade. He wasn't surprised, but it was concerning. Thankfully, he had more than enough work to make up for it. Especially when Fritz approached him outright.

"There's a woman here wanting to plan a party, can you cover it?" Fritz asked. Mike raised a brow in confusion. "And before you ask, she's asking about Mari, which is sort of your specialty."

"When did Mari become my specialty?" Mike asked right back with slight amusement. Though he then noticed that Fritz looked more than eager to say something. "Don't answer that."

"Are you sure? I had a good one." Fritz already looked like he was hiding smugness. "I even updated it with a nursery rhyme joke to go with the Hickory Dickory disaster." He immediately regretted telling Fritz what happened; it was just more fuel to the fire.

"Alright, fine, I'll do it. Just spare me the details," Mike declined quickly. "Where is she?" He was pointed in the woman's direction. In reality, he knew that Fritz was sending him because he was better at being direct. If there was something that they couldn't do, Fritz would have trouble turning the woman down. Mike was a little less worried about talking with people. Largely because he knew that the loss of one customer wouldn't risk their overhead.

The woman looked well put together, but was virtually just another mother when Mike first approached to introduce himself. "I'm Mike. Fritz said you needed to schedule a birthday party?" He offered her hand and she eagerly took it, shooting him a smile.

"Hi, yes, Kathleen, but not exactly scheduling," she corrected pleasantly. "I don't know if you'd even consider doing this, but would you consider renting out? Hold on, let me start from the beginning." She seemed fluttered, but more like a personality quirk than her being frazzled by anything. "My daughter, Chrissy,  _loves_ your restaurant. She talks about it all the time. I haven't seen her so happy in so long!"

So, this was Chrissy's mother. She wasn't what Mike had expected, but this was better than he had assumed. "I was wondering when we'd meet up. Yeah, I know Chrissy. She's a great kid." He hadn't seen her today, however. "She's here all the time."

"I know, and I meant to come sooner but things have been so hectic. Some days it's just hard enough getting into work!" Kathleen vented, still staying in good humor. "And I know you do birthday parties. I don't suppose that you do house calls?" She gave an almost desperate smile at the odd request and Mike decided that they weren't standing in the right place to discuss such a thing.

"I think we can figure something out. Let's move over in front of the Prize Corner, get away from some of this noise," Mike coaxed as he moved them away from the arcade and situated them in front of the room. He leaned against the door jam, leaving enough room in case any children needed to slip by. "So, what exactly are you looking for? Catering? Party supplies?"

"Chrissy has been a big fan of your animatronics. Especially Mari; every day she comes home with a new Mari toy, or a Mari trinket, and… I'll be honest. I don't think any party is going to complete without this Mari," Kathleen admitted, sounding a bit more desperate. "She's dealt with a lot this year. We really need a good birthday."

Mike knew that Marionette could hear, and he had no doubt that he knew his response to the news. "We don't usually move the animatronics out of the pizzeria like this, but we could probably make an exception. Chrissy's left an impression on all of us, so it's the least we could do."

"That would be wonderful. Money's not an issue- Well, no, I can't go too crazy- Sorry, don't listen to me. I get a little talk-happy." Mike suppressed a smirk of amusement. He couldn't imagine what something like this would've cost at the old Freddy's. Of course, that would mean that Fredrick would've allowed the removal of the animatronics, and Mike heavily doubted he would've risked that.

"We can work something out. Back on the topic of party favors and catering-," Mike began. They were already in this deep; there was no point in not offering the full package. It was going to involve the van either way. This also explained more of why Fritz needed him to agree to this. As it was, he was basically Marionette's second voice, and he had a good idea of how the animatronic was going to react.

"All of that is already taken care of. It's just having Mari at the party that's most important." Which made enough sense to Mike. Chrissy made it very clear that she adored Marionette. Just the fact that she dared to return after Baby's attack proved how close she was to the Puppet. He leaned back and glanced into the Prize Corner to find that it was devoid of children. Then he decided to make an offer.

"Do you want to see him?" He couldn't hide the slight bit of pride in his voice. It wasn't often when there was someone new to show off his animatronic to. "Come in, he's right in here."

Mike strode into the Prize Corner where, as expected, Marionette was half out of his box. He had been listening, just as the security guard expected him to be. He could hear Kathleen follow in eagerly, clearly curious in her daughter's 'other life'. There was no doubt that Marionette was also curious of her, especially considering how much he worried about her being alone. It wasn't clear whether this would alleviate all his concerns or not, but it certainly helped.

"Wow! He's taller than I expected! When she said he came out of a box, I just assumed something like this." Kathleen poised her hands at around a foot or so apart. "You can still move him?"

"He travels light," Mike assured as he tapped on the edge of the box. "He's a pretty amazing piece of hardware. You're not going to find an animatronic this advanced at any of our competitors… If, you know, we actually had competitors."

"What about Freddy's?" Kathleen offered. "I thought they were going to take down the old one and put up a new one." Mike was only partially surprised that she knew about Freddy's. From how casually she talked about it, it was obvious that she didn't know about Freddy's sour history. Anyone could drive past the restaurant and get a vague idea of what was going on there.

"Nah. Freddy's is down for the count," Mike denied quickly. Maybe she was the gossip type and, if so, this was a good time to spread information that leaned in their favor. "The company behind it went under. Some sort of money fiasco; spent too much opening restaurants and weren't bringing enough back in. The whole thing collapsed on itself."

Marionette moved out of the corner of his eye and he looked over, noticing that the Puppet was now holding onto the side of the box. He took this as a sign to pull back on the Freddy talk.

"But that's another story. Trust me, you've never seen anything like Marionette," Mike assured her. "In the pizzeria, in your house; wherever you put the party, he'll be able to handle it. I'll even throw in Foxy if you think there'll be enough kids."

"I'm already going overboard as it is. It's only going to be twelve, maybe fifteen kids. Mari should be plenty…" She looked to the Puppet and then looked back. She lowered her voice, "Between you and me, what is he actually supposed to be?" She punctuated the question with a smile, showing that she was partially joking.

"Jury's still out on that one," Mike remarked as he looked over towards Marionette. He sent a slight smirk of amusement. "We're down to either Sock Monkey or mime. We're taking votes if you'd like to throw your hat into the ring."

That aside, everything was pretty cut and dry at that point. Making the arrangements wasn't too difficult, considering that all that was required was Marionette and not any party favors, and as Mike already knew the basic route to the house, that wasn't a concern either. Not that he would tell her about his venture to her house. He walked Kathleen out of the Prize Corner and watched her leave through the front door, then returned back to the Prize Corner.

Marionette was clearly excited. Mike could already hear the rapid chimes of delight and was about to say something- mostly about how lucky they were that she hadn't found anything weird about her daughter's clinginess to the restaurant- but was interrupted by a group of young boys suddenly storming the prize corner. Their hands were clutching tickets and their babbling voices showed their lack of focus. Alas, Marionette was about to have his hands full for a while, and Mike backed out without vocal complaints.

At least he was rather sure that Marionette was happy about the situation, if his chiming was any indication. He quickly brought Fritz, Jeremy, and Natalie up to speed. Fritz was understandably concerned, but went along with moderate confidence. Thus, the plan was arranged. As far as it would seem, it would just be another birthday party.

The afternoon continued to be surprisingly busy. By closing time, everyone was virtually exhausted, and getting rid of the last of the kids was the top priority. Natalie had just gone to lock the door when she noticed a car sitting outside and a familiar face in it. He couldn't have been there too long. Natalie headed over to the Prize Corner, where Mike and Mari were inside, talking about the upcoming party.

"Hey, head's up, but that guy's sitting outside," Natalie pointed out. Mike gave her a blank look. "The nervous guy with the fake leg? He's camped out in his car."

"Phone Guy?" Mike asked, mostly himself, in confusion.

Marionette responded with a hand wave. "It's probably nothing too concerning. Probably just having traumatic flashbacks to our time at Freddy's." He laid his hand on Mike's back. "I'll tell Foxy the news. Maybe you could tend to him…?"

"I didn't exactly expect you to go out there and chat. He's already scarred enough as it is," Mike countered back. Then he paused for a moment, got a thoughtful look, and then looked suspicious. "You didn't call him again, did you?" Even Natalie sent the Puppet a weird look, though mostly out of curiosity.

"And risk having to speak to Baby? I would prefer not. So, no, I haven't called him," Marionette assured and crossed his arms comfortably.

"Besides, if it was Mari then why would he be sitting outside? Unless he's a glutton for punishment… But he's already missing a leg and still hanging around animatronics, so maybe he is," Natalie pointed out. Everything she knew about the man came from either Mike or Fritz, and both still saw the Phone Guy as largely an enigma. "Well, he's out front."

"I'll go see him," Mike volunteered. He was a little curious to what Phone Guy was here for. Marionette followed him out of the Prize Corner and headed towards the stage, where Foxy had already hidden behind his curtain. Natalie returned to cleaning up, watching as Mike headed out to the car.

Phone Guy saw Mike coming and rolled down the window. "Uh, hey…" he greeted uncomfortably. "You're the man I wanted to see."

"You're lucky I'm looking for a reason to bail from cleaning," the security guard remarked. Phone Guy responded by gesturing to the passenger seat and, after a moment of hesitation, Mike circled the car and got inside. "Should I even ask what Baby did?"

"It's not about Baby…" Phone Guy began. His hands were shaking and he moved to rest them on the wheel to hide it. "…It's about Ennard." He saw Mike look at him out of the corner of his eye, but wouldn't dare to meet his gaze. He licked his dried lips and found his voice, "…I need to know about Ennard."

" _Wasn't he just asking Fritz about Ennard? What's Baby been telling him?_ " Mike instead decided to watch Phone Guy's body cues to see how he would react. "Ennard was basically four or five animatronics shoved into one. Baby was part of Ennard, attacked us, fell to pieces, or wires, and then dodged us when we went down to pick up Baby. Apparently the two had a falling out, or something like that." Not that Mike trusted any of Baby's story now that he knew what he did. "What did Baby say?"

"Not much. Fritz didn't either… It had more than one personality?" Phone Guy guessed. Or Mike assumed that he was guessing.

"If there was more than one, then Baby was the one talking," Mike retorted. "It was her voice, her plans, so I'm pretty sure it was all her."

"But then Baby and Ennard split?" Phone Guy half asked half clarified.

"Apparently so. I wouldn't be half surprised if Baby just dumped Ennard to get sympathy," Mike admitted. Then he rethought this and added in, "Or maybe Ennard dumped Baby because of how amazingly everything went when we were down. It's the last time I'm going to the hospital because of faulty maintenance, I swear."

He looked over and could see that Phone Guy was lost in thought. Mike raised his brow curiously and decided to take the role of questioning. "Come on, what's with this sudden interest in Ennard?"

"Baby said something that made me curious… Or just talked about Ennard a little bit. She doesn't want to say much though," Phone Guy admitted. "And I… I don't want to know, but I- I can't afford living in the dark. Not anymore, not after everything with William. I don't… I don't want to get stuck back in a life or death situation."

"Don't ever let her trick you into going down to Afton's." Mike's sudden, stone cold comment surprised the older man. He looked over in surprise, seeing that all humor was washed out of the security guard's face. "Whatever she tries to tell you, whatever she says about Ennard or anything like that, don't ever go down there. Let it be the end of it." And Mike wanted to say more, but he didn't need to, and he feared how the Phone Guy would respond to the more intimate details. He received a stiff nod and a quick agreement as an answer; good enough.

Back inside of the pizzeria, things should've been on a lighter note. Marionette let him behind the curtains into the tight 'room' where Foxy was hiding away. Foxy strange behavior hadn't gone unnoticed by him, but he was so excited by the coming party that he couldn't help but spill.

"Chrissy's mother was here earlier. She's 'ordered' me, if you will, for Chrissy's birthday party!" Marionette said happily. "It's not here like I hoped, but at least I get to be there for her special day. I have absolutely nothing planned for a solo performance, so if you wouldn't mind, I could use your advice." Foxy was listening and turned his head tiredly, but seemed much less enthused.

"O' course, Lad. That's what I'm here for," Foxy assured. For a few more moments, Marionette almost considered ignoring Foxy's behavior and continuing with his delight, but then Foxy continued. "Just be careful. It ain't safe fer us outside of the Pizzeria. Ya don't want anything happening." This comment completely confused the Puppet. It was nothing like Foxy's usual behavior.

"What do you mean by that?" the younger asked in confusion.

"…I just mean you could be seen. If an of 'em- the adults- saw something amiss then we'd be in danger…" Foxy gave a sigh. "But can ya blame 'em? We ain't exactly safe, except around the kids."

Marionette immediately became defensive. It was an instant reflex, largely because he wasn't sure where he was going with this. "We're just as safe as any human, Foxy," Marionette assured.

"Lad, we both know that ain't true…" The fox seemed saddened by his own reveal. "We ain't humans, we just act like 'em. If it came down to it… We could do damage."

"Foxy, we are humans," Marionette firmly corrected. There was a lingering pause as the two let that statement sink in. "I… I mean that we are technically… We were, but we still are..." He almost lost his compositor, almost became flustered, but recovered. "Where is this coming from, all of a sudden?" the Puppet nearly demanded, frowning in displeasure as he drew the curtain closed. "I doubt Jeremy would've said anything like that."

"He didn't. It was just…" Foxy could've blamed Max, but to be fair, Max only brought up the suggestion once. It was he himself putting all these thoughts into his head. It was hard to act human when Jeremy's presence reminded him that this was far from the case. After being in his home, after watching what happened in the Funcade, it was hard not to think about it. "I was just… All day I've been thinkin' about the hunt."

There came the uncomfortable silence. Nobody wanted to talk about the hunting they used to do. Foxy and Marionette had been some of the more dangerous animatronics, ruthlessly hunting, and had been just like the Toys- or the Funcade crew as they were now. Yet now they spoke freely to humans, work amongst them, even dared to begin a relationship with one, and Foxy was suddenly reeling.

Marionette, however, was feeling just fine about it. It was certainly strange to look back on the transformation, but if he considered then and now, he preferred this much more. He was happier now than he had been even as a human. Even with the setbacks, even when having to deal with the past and the sins of his father, Marionette truly enjoyed his existence.

"One of these days, Marion, we're gonna slip," Foxy pointed out. "Then someone's gonna find out what we are and they ain't gonna be as willing to keep quiet."

"When that day comes, we'll deal with it," Marionette assured.

"One of these days, we're gonna find another animatronic that's stronger than us," Foxy added in. "An' we ain't in shape to hunt it back."

"We'll figure something out if that comes to pass," Marionette continued.

The Funcade was a fluke; he could've taken them out if not for who they were. As long as he could get his emotions back under control, but it seemed like that was more difficult. When under Goldie's guidance, Marionette had been ruthless, numb to consequences, and had become a predator like no other. Without him, Marionette was forced to recognize animatronics and humans as more than just a haze, and now the humanity was returning. He was content with this, but it occurred to him that maybe Foxy wasn't.

Marionette laid his hands on Foxy's shoulders affectionately, squeezing his fabric. "You don't need to feel like this. I know it's strange… To return to being in a home, to feel human again, but it's nothing to be ashamed of." It took a short pause, but Foxy gave a sigh and reached out to mimic the gesture with his normal hand on Marionette's shoulder.

"Yer right. I'm letting this thing get over me head." Whether or not Foxy truly was feeling better, there was some amount of assurance in his tone. "Between you an' me, it's weird bein' close to someone human again. Jeremy's a great lad, but… He makes me question some things." This raised flags that Marionette wasn't expecting, but he decided to keep any suspicions to himself as Foxy and separated them. "This flimsy curtain ain't much. Go back into the Prize Corner an' I'll come once the coast is clear."

"You don't have to," Marionette assured. "Not if you're feeling this out of sorts."

"Bah! A good captain is on call when his crew's in need!" Foxy assured, returning to his boisterious voice once more. "An' this is a big event, ain't it? Yer first party outside o' the restaurant  _alone_. We need somethin' big to kick it off! You set sails fer the Prize Corner an' I'll follow." It seemed that Foxy wanted to pretend everything was back to normal and Marionette went along with it. Maybe it was the best thing for him. Marionette could always ask about Foxy, and Jeremy, once the fox was relaxed from a proper distraction. He still seemed too twitchy to push.

The Puppet slipped through the curtain and started towards the Prize Corner. He was right outside the door when he was suddenly hit by the uncomfortable feeling of eyes on him, along with the sound of the kitchen door squeaking. Instead of going still or looking back, Marionette decided to just skirt into the Prize Corner before anyone could notice that he wasn't on his track. He quickly got back in his box, but was unable to fully drop inside before the footsteps were outside his door.

To his relief, it was only Tabby, who looked in now. Foxy and Marionette hadn't needed to be too careful around Tabby. Not when she was usually engaged in her own part of the restaurant. Even now, she didn't look very interested. Yet she lingered there, watching him, looking just a little bit confused. Suddenly Foxy's words had come back to haunt him. Tabby was a stranger, was untrustworthy, and if she found out the truth…

Before Marionette could dwell any further, Tabby turned himself away and headed to the front. He could hear the front door as she opened it and only then relaxed. It seemed like he was frantic about nothing, even if he had gotten closer than he would've liked to being spotted. Yet he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about the situation.

And suddenly Marionette was much less confident in the coming birthday party.

* * *

Mike didn't expect to hear back from Phone Guy. Not that night, at least. He was halfway through carving open a raw chicken breast when his cell phone started to ring. He sent a glance over at the table, but then returned it to the food. It wasn't as though he would be able to scrub the salmonella off his hands in time to answer anyway. Marionette, who had been propped up on the counter, retrieved the cell phone. He then pressed it to Mike's ear where Mike held it with his head and shoulder. He mouthed a 'thank you' and continued with the chicken. "Hello, hello?"

"Uh, hey, Mike…" Speaking of the Phone Guy himself. Mike was a little surprised to hear a call from the man. "What are you doing?"

"Stuffing a chicken breast. You?"

"Oh, cooking! Okay, could we… Can we talk about earlier?" Something seemed off, as though maybe Phone Guy was uncomfortable. "About our conversation earlier?"

"Sure," Mike answered nonchalant. He sounded like he was only half paying attention, though he picked up immediately where he left off; he started trying to effectively read Phone Guy. "Why, what did Baby say?"

"Baby didn't say anything…" Phone Guy denied. "… Sorry, I'm having a little trouble focusing tonight. I haven't gotten much sleep in the last few days, and the, uh, I've been better." Something just seemed amiss, like Phone Guy was hiding something. "What we talked about earlier…" He faded off as though he wanted Mike to continue.

"About Baby, Afton's, or Ennard?" Mike laid out. He couldn't tell what was going on, but he assumed that Phone Guy didn't want to say anything out loud. Almost as though he was being listened in on.

"…Mostly about what happened down in Afton's and what you told me… I know there's something else you're not telling me, but I think it would be best if I didn't know… It's hard enough being comfortable with Baby in here without knowing about the dark details," Phone Guy explained.

"I can't say I share that sentiment, but I'm willing. Just as long as you don't get the idea to go back down there. I stand by what I said; don't even think about going down into Afton's." Phone Guy was silent after this comment. "…I'm hoping that silence isn't you considering it."

"Why would I go back down there?" Phone Guy answered. "I'm just… Thinking about some things… About what you told me about Ennard." There were a few moments of silence. "…I can't even really remember what you said. I guess I was so distracted." Another few moments of silence. "Can you repeat what you said?"

Something was definitely off and Mike sent Marionette a look of disbelief. He knew that he was listening in, no matter how comfortable he looked. Mike set the knife to the side and focused fully on the conversation. "Alright, something is up. What's going on, is Baby listening in or something? I thought she was supposed to be out in the garage." This was answered with silence. "…Unless this  _is_ Baby and she's just faking a voice."

"They can do that? No, this is just me, Baby can't fit through the door. She's still out in the garage." Before Mike could interrupt, Phone Guy broke in again. "I think I'm going to try and get some sleep, okay? Sorry to interrupt your… Stuffing…" He paused for a minute. "…How do you do that?"

"You cut open the breast, stuff something inside, and bake it for a while," Mike listed out. Then he decided to test for another reaction, "It's not like a whole turkey. You don't have to scoop everything out and then stuff something in, you know?" To his surprise, there was no obvious reaction, like he would expect from Baby. He started to consider that he was mistaken, especially one Phone Guy started to breathe harder, almost anxiously. Maybe Baby  _had_ said something that frightened him. "Look, if there's something bothering you, you can come out and say it. If Baby's not listening-."

"I have to go," Phone Guy bluntly announced. "I'll call you back." The line then went dead.

Mike was left standing there, half-astounded and half in disbelief, unable to even move the phone because of the risk of getting chicken on it.

Marionette took the lead to take it back. "And what was that?" he inquired as he did so.

"I have no idea. Could've been Phone Guy having some sort of episode, might've been Baby; I don't know." But considering it now, Mike didn't think that Baby had the capacity to fit through a door, find Phone Guy's phone, and just happen to know his own cell number. "Probably Phone Guy, but something's off… He was asking earlier about Afton's and he's just been acting weird." A look of dread and suspicion settled on Mike's face as he returned to his prepping.

"It's very possible that Baby's trying to convince him to go back down and find Ennard," Marionette pointed out. "I'm not certain why she would want that, but it sounds like Phone Guy is parroting what he hears."

"Yeah, I got that feeling too," Mike admitted. He began to stuff the chicken breast. "Maybe I'll run this by Fritz tomorrow. Try not to dwell on it. You've got enough on your plate as it is."

"That may be so, but if he calls again then give me the phone so that I can listen. I'll be able to tell if it's Baby or not." Mike regretted not doing that while he had Phone Guy on the phone, but it seemed better to just let it drop for the evening. After all, he seemed to have properly frightened the older man, so he doubted anything would happen in one night.

For tonight, they could do without the worry.

"Mike…" Marionette slipped an arm around him. "…Do you think I'm too human?"

Apparently, Mike stood corrected.

"No," Mike bluntly answered back. "Why?"

"It's not important," the animatronic chimed back. He then preceded to rest his head on Mike's shoulder and watched curiously as he continued to cook. Mike was almost surprised at how quickly the arms hugged around him managed to block out the concerns for the moment.

Phone Guy could handle himself for one night, Baby or not.


End file.
